Fairy Fail
by Crystalmaiden62
Summary: I'm back home but I still got work to do. Asuna is in a cage being harassed by the a butterfly and over a hundred special betas are trapped in ALO. I'm willing to go back into a game and I got many plans. One goal... BEATING UP THE BUTTERFLY KING! Thank you Akiie-chan for the cover. (Will update slowly due to school)
1. Chapter 1: Possibilities

Crystal:... you know when I said I'd post this on Friday? Well... I got impatient! I wanted to post this sooner but anyway, we got a new person with us. Hello, Jason.

Jason: Um... hi.

Belle: Nice to see you join us.

Jason: we're not going to do much here are we?

Crystal: well no but I want to do something different soon and I will post up ideas at the end of the chapter so look for that. Anyway to the disclaimers!

Disclaimers: I do not own SAO. I only own the OCs. Now please enjoy and if you do not like the story, the back button will take you back in time... but it's not a TARDIS.

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Chapter 1: Possibilities

Jason's POV

"Hey, Jason, how's your sister doing today?"

"Same old stuff, going to classes, still in recovery and testing, and locking herself in her room and making a list of things she's planning to do once she gets the okay to join F.R's ALfheim group. Kind of glad she's at least getting used to living in the dorms though." I sighed as I walked with my friend, Katrina, through the F.R building to one of the labs.

It's been more than two years since I saw my older sister, Isabelle, got sucked into her computer and brought into the actual world of _Sword Art Online_. I remember that day since I remember calling the police department and them scolding me for abusing the 911calls but then gave me an apology when they realized I was telling the truth since Isabelle was one of the few who disappeared in California. In fact, Isabelle was I think 1 of at least a hundred or so players that were taken from the U.S. Many were also from other nations around the world, making this almost like an international kidnapping mystery and thus getting the entire world researching on technology and the game to get those taken players back.

Still, I will admit, my sister never learned that saying 'yes' to stuff on the Internet was a bad thing. Since the kidnapping though, many groups have been trying their hardest to get the players out of the games. One branch of this operation is Fire Revolution, which my father, a group of her friends, and I joined to find Isabelle. Thankfully, when Dad found her, Isabelle was alive… and then she married Kirito of all people. To be honest, I nearly choked on my drink when I first heard Isabelle was getting married to the main protagonist, that and I was kind of annoyed at Helen when she was dancing around shouting about how Isabelle's romance was like a fan fiction. Sorry, but I don't really like to think about my sister's love life, kind of weird if you ask me since she's dating someone who is never meant to exist… that and I always thought of Kirito more from the abridge series and being a total a-hole. Maybe that's the first sign the world is going to end.

Currently, we're on our second month of ALfheim Online, one month after my sister and Kirito beat SAO so we're ahead of the series by one month. So far things have been relatively okay, aside from the fact that each race thinks we don't support their cause to getting up to the world tree with race pride. Most of the members from the F.R in Aincrad are in ALfheim but there's only a few of us who are commanders of our own branch of the guild, me being one of them and I take kind of pride in that seeing as I was one of the first people to try the F.R's version of the full dive system, of course under the watchful eye of doctors but hey, better to be safe than sorry. I don't want my brain to explode.

"Thinking of doing physical harm to the rapist guy?" Katrina asked, with a knowing smirk on her face.

"Sort of, I'm just worried about the remaining players trapped in the game… and what rapist butterfly king id doing to them." Katrina is my partner in all of this. When I need backup she's usually there to help me out so naturally she's my second in command in ALfheim. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have been able to work with F.R since I'm still really young and I could only work with the group if I had someone as my assistant. Then again, most of the volunteers working in the virtual world are near end of high school or in early college; that and we get paid and many people want their money. Using technology already being developed, we were able to get a fully functional dive system running that we've been using for ALfheim to help get used to flying, though our health is constantly monitored.

This weekend though, we're getting more volunteers to help with our job in ALfheim though it's not as popular as SAO. Mostly because the possibility of detection from the rapist butterfly king I can never take seriously. There is a huge risk for the special betas still missing and we can only guess they're in the game because… well… plot of _Sword Art Online_ , what else do we have to go on? But the thing I know Isabelle is looking forward to is to join the new group this weekend and finally log in to save Asuna. Isabelle kept telling me a lot about Asuna and it's only natural for Isabelle to save her friend, heck I want to save her too. She seems nice… I guess. Again going by the abridge version and I don't want to accidently piss her off and have her stabbing me in the eye.

Today's plan is a little different. Katrina and me were called in by Mr. Travis, the leader of F.R in our area and also was in charge of testing new equipment. He is also the one who made the full dive system that brought the players into SAO in our world, but none of us are willing to die a bloody death in ALfheim… especially since in fairyland players are encouraged to kill each other. We walked into Mr. Travis's lab to see what looked like one of those full body scanners you see in airports, you know those kinds you have to stand in for a minute as they scan your entire body, except this one only had one entrance and even has a door to close. So I guess you could call it a shower or something… no that's a little weirder since it's in the crazy guy's lab. But he's not always crazy, once we're on a major mission or topic, he'll go into serious mode. Shame he's not like that all the time.

"Ah, there you are." Travis said, greeting us with a huge grin on his face.

"Hey, Doc." Katrina said, as Travis sighs in exasperation.

"I told you not to call me that."

"Sorry, but you look like the stereotypical mad scientist." Katrina pointed out and I have to agree. He wore one of those lab coats and his dirty blonde hair was a mess and his chin was covered in spikey bits of hair. Some of the other volunteers joke that the reason why his hair is such a mess is because he lives in the F.R building and he doesn't realize he forgot to brush his hair. I can honestly say… they might actually be right.

"Anyway, I need to ask you to help me test something. It's for my _pod_ project to improve interactions with the _other_ world."

"You mean you want us to be your test dummies." I answered, rolling my eyes. Here we go again. Another down side to being a kind of volunteer that gets paid as well, we're human test dummies for people like him. Imagine me in a little rat suit running in a maze to find a huge chunk of cheese…. Or a plasma screen TV with a PS4 and Netflix with a giant version of Travis watching me with a clipboard and writing notes. That's kind of my life no matter how much my Dad and Isabelle protest. At least I help pay for the food on the table in my own way… and I don't think he's trying to kill me… I hope. As for the _other_ world project…. I wonder how many Star Trek jokes I can make about that.

"Okay, yes. But it's something I've tested on rats and other smaller creatures."

"That doesn't make us feel better." I sighed, not liking that he was being pretty vague.

"And how well did that work out?"

"The rats came back once…. And the second time, they didn't return back to the check point." Travis said and Katrina and I looked at each other nervously. "Oh, they left willingly. I didn't have any way to control them to get back that time."

"Great… why couldn't it have been to test the full dive system for Five Nights at Freddy's? At least then I got a chance at living for another twenty years." I groaned. "So what do you want us to do?"

"Well, for one thing you're going doing the test I sent the rats on. I got someone else doing that… and he hasn't come back yet."

"Joy, and when you get his body back let us know so we can kick you." Katrina growled crossing her arms. "Really Doc, don't you worry about the human lives you're testing?"

"I do, but they're willing."

"Can we get back to the subject at hand? Is this test going to kill us?" I asked and Travis's eyes were instantly trained on me. Oh god, where's an adult…

"Well, more you, Jason." Travis said, grabbing me by the shoulder with a mad look in his eyes that he called 'the look of a genius' as he was nose to nose with me. I call it the 'I NEED AN ADULT!' look. Why? BECAUSE I REALLY NEED AN ADULT! "I need you to speak to someone in game."

"Okay, first, what are you talking about? Second, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE!" I shouted as I pushed him off me and he fell to the ground. "Seriously, man. Personal space!"

"Sorry, I got really excited."

"Clearly." Katrina said, her bored eyes looking at a spot on Travis's body.

"Not like that!"

"I know, just making sure I didn't need to call security. So what's this about talking to someone in game?"

"Actually, it's best if I show you." Travis said, getting up and moving to his large monitors and started typing. Instantly the scenery of ALfheim appeared on each monitor, mostly focusing on the base of the world tree. But on each screen were different navigation pixies, each having a blank look on its face but I realized what they were.

"Are these the you've been coding?"

"Yep, but they're not for navigating, they're for communication."

"Communication? We already send messages in the game." Katrina asked, actually looking interested at what Travis had planned.

"Yes but this is a communication that you can hear the voice of the actual person in real time. Think of it as a cell phone system in game." Travis said and I have to say, I'm kind of impressed.

"Can they record talks as well?"

"Yes, just in case something happens it can record on command and I was hoping to add the feature to your program, Eve." Travis said and I thought for a moment. Eve is a program I helped make that turned into my navigation pixie in game… though isn't as annoying as Navi. "This way we can communicate to you in the real world without waking you up and taking you out of the game."

"Okay, that's even better." Katrina said, not looking very pleased.

"Cool it, sweet heart. There's more to it than that." Travis said, looking at us with a serious look. "Our plan is to get one of our pixies into the World Tree and scout for us within it to find the missing players."

"What?" The two of us said, looking out the scientist.

"Um… Doc? Did a computer fall on you this morning?"

"I would've been dead if it did."

"Not if it was a Mac."

"Just hear me out." Travis said, looking to us. "We created the pixies with the same type of Cardinal System used in ALO."

"Well, an adaption of it, yes." I admitted.

"Then, it should have some bit of way to access the system to get in. And as long as it's not a player, it should be able to get through without letting the system admins know." Travis pointed out, before looking back at his computer. "At least, I believe it will work. Once the pixie is inside, we'll be able to see more on…. Sorry, I don't know the guy who's running this plot."

"Nobuyuki Sugou." I say, sighing. Having been forced to watch _Sword Art Online_ , I also had to see the ALO part and saw how creepy this guy was. How Asuna's parents didn't see this guy was a creeper, I'll have no idea. I mean, he tried to marry a girl when she's in a coma! Then again, her parents agreed to it so maybe they're just as messed up… or blind…. Or deaf…. Or all the above.

"Yeah, Butterfly King." Travis said, shrugging. "We hope to see if we can locate the missing players using this system and confirming our beliefs the missing players are in the World Tree." I thought for a moment, on the one hand, it's not a bad plan but on the other hand this could blow up in our faces if the Navi Pixie gets caught. But then again, if we can get Mr. Travis's _other_ project to be completed, with the info we may get, I hope to use it to get the sex offender in prison here in America and if TV has taught me anything, he's going to have a role reversal on what happened to Asuna… and I can't wait to see that day he gets to wear a wig and pretend to be someone's sweet heart.

"Okay, I'm in. What do you need?"

"Do you have the software for Eve?"

"Yeah." I take out my external hard drive and handed it to Mr. Travis.

"Okay, I should be able to install the program in her and another navigation pixie will be sent to your inbox. We'll be ready for this operation tonight." He looked to Katrina and me before beginning his work. "You're going to need to get people together if you want to make a run at the World Tree tonight."

"Okay, so Operation Pixie is a go?"

"Think of a better name, please." Mr. Travis said, rolling his eyes. Yep, he's in serious mode. "But yes, we're going to get this done tonight and see what we can do."

"Okay, um… is that it?"

"Yep, just get here at eight o'clock tonight so we can start the plan."

"Got it."

We left the room and I couldn't help but grin. What better way than to show my sister what I do in my job here. I think I'll invite her to see. Her last physical exam is today so she can be in the command room when we begin. That and she can see the safety precautions we're doing so that we don't end up dying IRL. Hopefully things turn out well tonight and we don't see anything too… freaky. Okay never mind, we're dealing with the rapist butterfly king with an inferiority complex the size of the Pacific Ocean and who is experimenting on people's minds. It's not going to be freaking. It's going to be disturbing as all hell and more. 'I just hope we don't find Asuna while Sugou is trying to molest her. I think Isabelle is going to flip off the screen if she sees that.'

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Crystal: well, we got chapter one done, I'd like to ask you guys something. While working on this and during my long hiatus due to school, many one shots came to my mind and I'd like to do a vote on that. These one shots will be posted later but I will make the vote when I post chapter two... probably next week but I wanted to get this one out since I've been excited for ALO. Why? Because I'm going to add more to it since Belle and Jason go into the game a month before Kirito does.

Belle: a month without Kirito... I think I'll enjoy this.

Paris: aw, you miss your boyfriend.

Belle:... Helen, don't talk right now. I'm enjoying the silence.

London: just wait, you'll be happy to see Kirito again.

Belle: I won't deny that but let me enjoy my freedom, damn it!

Crystal: anyway, join us next time in Chapter 2: Inside the Fake World Tree. See you soon!

Katrina: Operation Pixie!

Jason: when the hell did you get here?!


	2. Chapter 2: Inside the Fake Tree

Crystal: Okay the title is a little off from what I said earlier but that's not important. For those who have read, I saw I was going to post this next week... well... I'm not. I'm too happy right now and at the news I'm going to be a puppy auntie. My older brother is getting a puppy and it was just born this week and we got the news. Its going to be a Golden Doodle, a mix between a golden retriever and a poodle and I'm super excited. Sadly, this will mean I might not be home for christmas, rather I'll be in another state where I might experience my first ever White Christmas. I hope to get as many plot bunnies as possible while I'm gone but I'm happy to say I will be doing my votes for one-shots for Belle, Jason, and their misadventures either while in SAO or after the ALO arc since there is nearly a near gape between the first SAO and SAO II... yes I intend to do SAO II. For one particular reviewer, you saw a little on what I plan to do when Kirito reveals he is a dude and I love it. Anyway, to the disclaimers! *passes out*

Belle: did she even breathe when saying all that?

Disclaimers: Crystal does not own SAO. Only the OCs and that's pretty much it. Hope you enjoy the story and please no flames. If you do not like the story, there is a mini Tardis at the left hand corner of the screen that can take you back in time.

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Chapter 2: Inside the Fake Tree

Isabelle's POV

You know… I kind of miss Aincrad. Oh no, this has nothing to do with Kirito or Asuna. No, it's about the way I'm being treated! At least in SAO, I was able to live my life without people always watching me like I was a time bomb ready to go off. Hell, even Kayaba didn't look at me like that when he was Heathcliff. Since I've been back in the real world, I always have someone watching me like a hawk when I'm walking out in public: doctors and police officers. If some girl scout comes to help me, I'm gonna snap. I mean, I'm not mentally unstable but everyone is treating me like I may be. I'm not the only one feeling this way either.

I currently live in a dorm now with a bunch of other kids from all over the U.S and we talk about our lives back in Aincrad. We're all annoyed that we're being treated like this and not only that but we're isolated in our school. Yes, we're trapped in a school so we could be monitored in what we learn. The adults that were trapped in the game as well are also in the school but live in a different building away from us, but there isn't that many of us so we're kind of placed in a small elementary school like area but is really the equivalent of a community college with the things we're learning. The oldest one in the house of minors being an eighteen year old named Monica, who's room is actually next to mine, and the youngest being a ten year old named Shelly. How she ever got onto SAO I will have no idea since she must've been at least eight when she was thrown into the game.

There's only one benefit though, my dad and brother live nearby so I usually visit them once a day to talk about things and my brother also attends the school as well. But if the only benefit is seeing family, I could almost call what I've been placed in prison… oh wait, that's school. Same thing.

I walk into the house that was kind of a mini dorm for the twenty other kids and teens who were sucked into the game. The living room was the same as over, messy with shoes we didn't bother to pick up, some game controls were out on the coffee table and I could hear more of them upstairs in their room watching internet videos. I smiled as I walked to my little dorm room, which was large room after my little bedroom in Aincrad. Then again it was a large house. Each person had their own room with a small private bathroom and the bedroom was big enough for a full sized bed, a bookshelf and a desk with a small closet. Best of all free wifi and it had pretty good internet speed so we could enjoy the simpler things in life: you know, cat videos. Anyway, the house was originally designed for college students who was renting a house together I think but I think the government bought it for us kids and teens. In fact, only teen that lives in the dorm wasn't in SAO and that's Jason, and even then he mostly stays at the house with Dad.

I flopped onto my bed, closing my eyes as the last exam came to my head. I passed of course but people were surprised to see how strong I was but I told them I had been fighting on the front lines since we had been trapped in the game. Then again, without healing potions and healing crystals, I think I may have broken every bone in my body at some point in the game. Why? Because again, it's a death game. Monsters are aiming for vital organs and bones. They advised me that if I wanted to keep myself in shape since…. not to be so mean about the American eating habits…. Actually no, I got no shame! The American diet sucks with all its junk food but I want McDonalds nuggets! Anyway, the doctors said I was very healthy and that I should do some sports to keep myself in shape or yoga to calm the mind. I was so tempted to say 'I saw people die, I doubt yoga can help the mental scars in my memories', but I didn't want to be sent back to the hospital so I kept silent. Besides, yoga might be good for me.

My new cell phone rang and I answered it, placing it on speaker, not even bother to looking up.

"Yes, who is it?"

"Isabelle, it's Jason."

"Oh, hey." I perked up at hearing my brother's name, sitting up as I grabbed my phone again. "What's up?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to watch me work today. We're doing something on ALfheim tonight and I think you might want to be there."

"What are you doing?"

"We're going to try and see if we can get a navigation pixie through to the World Tree to see if we can find our missing players."

"Including Asuna?" I asked, my mind instantly going to Princess Asuna in her cage in that skimpy outfit she was forced to wear.

"We're hoping to contact her but our main goal is to get our probe into the World Tree and see if the players are in there as well as their condition."

"Count me in! When will we be going?"

"After dinner, we're going out for sushi tonight. My treat."

"You got paid today?"

"Yep." I smiled, thinking about how big my little brother had gotten.

"I never thought I'd see the day you'd be paying for my dinner. Usually it's the other way around."

"Oh, ha, ha sis. You'll get paid too once you join F.R this weekend. You'll get to see what we do here." Jason said and I can almost image him grinning on the other end of the phone. "Anyway, I'll pick you up at around six, okay?"

"Wait, you're driving?"

"No way, Katrina is."

"Okay, see you then."

"See you later, Isabelle." I smiled as Jason hung up the phone. One of the things I am glad about when it comes to being home is seeing how Jason has grown into a young man and we're still close. Having been gone for two years, I wasn't sure how to bridge the years gap between us but turns out Jason was working just as hard to make sure I got home safely. 'He's a good kid… I just hope he doesn't do anything reckless.' I thought, curling onto my bed for a small nap.

As for the whole fairy race thing when I go into ALfheim in a few days… I got no idea which one I wanna do. Udines are interesting but I don't want to be a support healer. I prefer fighting on the front lines. Imps are cool but I don't think it's me. Spriggan?... Kirito already broke that race with all the stats he had from SAO. I would be a Sylph since… well…. They're pretty cool to a degree but it also links to my nickname back in SAO. Belle of the Wind. Then again I feel like Sylph powers of healing and offence would be pretty balanced so it may be the best choice for me if I'm intending to go into something big in the game. Plus the fact that I'll be flying in said game, I'll need to be pretty fast and from what I can tell sylphs are pretty fast fliers.

'I'll try looking up more info online.' I think, yawning and snuggling into my bed sheets for a short nap.

That night, Jason and his friend, Katrina took me out for some nice cheap sushi, which I'm not complaining about. The place was good and as long as the salmon nigiri is good, I'm happy. I'll admit, when I first saw Katrina with Jason, I thought they were dating…. Until I realized Katrina was two years older than him and was just his partner in the F.R. They are friends but not enough to be boyfriend and girlfriend, which kind of relieved me. Not that I'm against Jason having a girlfriend… it's just… I don't want him to grow up too fast. I at least want to see his first girlfriend…. Or boyfriend, which ever he prefers. Still, what was most important was that we were spending time together. Dad still works for F.R but he's back to his teaching career, teaching middle school students who were trapped in the game. He still gets pretty good pay from the government, which we're all happy for but I can't help but feel like Dad and Jason must've been through some hard times while I was trapped in the game. I hope they didn't drop everything to help me, though I doubt it from the times Dad was on SAO during the day. He mostly came in the afternoon except on weekends and would leave around five to be with Jason.

Once dinner was done, Katrina drove us to the St. Agatha Hospital, which surprised me since that's the hospital I always had to go to for my testing. It was also the hospital funded by the F.R to check on players and their mental health but provide services to the rest of the community as well. How else would they still be able to keep the place running.

"I thought we were going to the F.R headquarters." I said, looking to Jason, who smiled at me over his shoulder.

"Nah, that place is mostly where the white collars are. You know, the people who handle all the phone calls of people yelling at us saying we're wasting tax money. Our main operations or rather, real headquarters is here at the hospital." Katrina said, grinning at me through the rearview mirror. "The hospital does have plenty of labs we use for research on the new NerveGears we've been making… though I guess a better word for it would be DreamerState."

"Huh?"

"Well, while wearing it, you're slightly asleep but your mind is still active, kind of like the stages of sleep." Jason said, shrugging. "So far we've got most of the issues out of it, nothing life threatening but you do twitch a lot in the game since again you're semi conscious. We already got a bunch of companies for game systems wanting to get the technology to make it mass produced."

And yet they haven't learned from SAO. If _Terminator_ becomes real, I fear what SkyNet really will become… though the image of Yui was the terminator is kind of laughable. Actually no, she can summon giant flaming swords, that's worse than the Govenator. Walking into the hospital, I followed Jason and Katrina to a part of the hospital I had never been to and Jason turned to me as they got to two rooms.

"Um… you're going to need to wait in room 359. That's where Mr. Travis will be and you can communicate with us while we're in game."

"We can do that?"

"Well, we finally found a way to do so just recently thanks to some studies he's been doing with us in game."

"Like today."

"Not the point. Anyway, we need to enter our rooms to get the sensors on us and our nurses are waiting for us. Even though the company says the machines are safe, they're not risking us diving without a nurse or doctor watching over us. Kind of annoying but hey, we get the job done." Jason said, giving me a quick hug. "Hear from you later, sis."

"Okay. Be careful, Jason."

"You too."

"What am I, old sushi?" Katrina said, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry, brother and sister moment." Jason reasoned, before entering his room while Katrina went into her room. Room 359 was actually the large lab at the end of the hall where a few scientists and doctors were there at different monitors with a large screen on the opposite wall showing the World Tree from ALO.

"Hey, you must be Isabelle." I looked to see a man with blonde hair walking to me with his lab coat and slightly messed up hair. "I'm Mr. Norman Travis, head scientist for the ALfheim project as well as head researcher for the full dive system."

"Oh, pleased to meet you." I say, and shook his hand as Travis handed me a headset with a microphone attached to it.

"Here, you're going to need this, this way you can keep in contact with Jason and the squad."

"Thanks." I said, eagerly placing the headset on me.

"You'll also be sitting with me during this and I'd like to ask for your input on certain topics relating to the operations since…" Mr. Travis hesitated but after a brief pause, he continued. "We may need you here to help identify places as we're searching for the missing players as well as…"

"Asuna?" I asked, feeling almost hopeful. "Wait, what is happening today?"

"We're trying to communicate with the people who are trapped and that includes Asuna." Mr. Travis said and I was shocked to see how serious the man was. Guess some government scientist take things like this seriously. "Since the special betas are in the game body and soul, they wouldn't be just brains floating on little pillars in a large room. They're in there fully body and this can help make the missing people easier to find."

"Good point, and we can hope they aren't affected."

"I don't think we should raise our hopes. The main objective of Fire Revolution is to find and help the players who were trapped in Sword Art Online. But now that the game has changed and we're still missing players, things have gone back to square one." Mr. Travis said and his voice turned very grim. "When in the game, your body and mind are a bunch of zeroes and ones. I remember reading your testimony on what happened the first day you arrived and how your appearance changed. Now imagine if the players are in ALfheim and they're just roaming around the place. We would've found them by now. We have over a hundred volunteer gamers in ALfheim looking for missing players from every different fairy race and so far we have found none. Leads us to believe they're in the World Tree with Asuna and the remaining SAO player's minds. Now imagine if not only your appearance changed but also someone was tampering with your mind. We have to make sure the worst possible scenario isn't happening to the missing players, or at least find their location."

The mental image of the butterfly rapist typing on a keyboard in front of an unconscious person and coding the person's mind like a computer is not something I wanted to see. After all, the guy knew the experimentation on the human mind when it comes to messing with people's emotions and memories is completely unethical. Even here in the real world, there have been many unethical experiments done to animals and we make a horrible deal of it. But the really scary thing about this isn't the unethical part… the things this unethical bastard without a manhood would be testing things on humans who may not be able to recover from the experiments! Not only that but if he does this to the special betas and learns how to make them not be so fragile, what if he tries to do this to Asuna? Even though he says he won't, I wouldn't put it past him! I had to take a lot of deep breaths to calm me down but I nodded.

"If we're to move forward with F.R in ALO, we need to find these missing players and that's why this current operation is being done. That way we can plan our next move." Travis said, as I nodded, kind of getting what was being done. "It was the same thing with Aincrad, we had to confirm the special betas were there as well and when we did, Fire Revolution was created. But that's just the basics of what we're doing here. You think you can help?"

"Okay, I'll help." I say, sitting beside Mr. Travis and watching his three monitors. "Also, I'll be joining the new players this weekend so if you need anything."

"Good, I'll keep in touch with you about that then. You may end up being the first group entering into a new operation if we can confirm the location of the missing betas." Travis began typing quickly on his keyboard before pulling out what seemed to be a joystick controller from his desk drawer. "Okay, I think they're connected." Mr. Travis said and shouted out to the entire room. "Hey, is everyone linked to their players?" The room gave a resounding shout of 'yes' and I saw a monitor turn on and I could see a boy with hair ears, blond hair with matching amber eyes.

"Hey, Travis, can you see me okay?" I was shocked, that voice was Jason's. He's a Cait Sith? Huh… kind of weird seeing him with cat ears.

"Yep, Eve is working. We can see you." Travis said, looking to me. "You want to say anything, Isabelle?"

"How are we seeing you in the game?"

"Navigation Pixie program we made. It helps us keep in contact with each other between the game and IRL." Jason said, grinning very cat like. He's really getting into his fairy race I guess. "Here, I'm known as Judai, just so you know."

"Um… okay. Should I call you that through the mic?"

"If you can. I've gotten used to it in the game. Kind of weird though since I'm now respond to both names."

"Yeah, know that feeling. But at least you didn't get the same nickname of a Disney princess."

"Hey, Belle was a good character."

"Can we focus?" Travis said, with a sigh. "Anyway, do you have the new pixie I sent you?"

"Yep." Judai said, holding up what looked like a sleeping green haired pixie in his hand. "I'm sending it to Rina so we can begin our missing. She'll be the one launching the pixie into the gate."

"Good, we just need you to get the pixie at least half way up chamber to the World Tree's main gate when you launch it. The rest we'll handle. Think you can do that?"

"Yep, we got enough forces to get through this without using too much of our resources." Judai said, and the monitor moved to show a large group of players from all the fairy races, I was surprised there were this many players even in the game. America can't be the only ones working to get the players back. Maybe this is an international group and other nations of working towards getting their citizens back.

"Are all the players in the F.R residents here?"

"Only about half." Travis said, not looking at me and was more focused on typing something on his keyboard. "The other half is in our base in Washington D.C but we're the only branch who is willing to ask SAO survivors if they want to be volunteers for the ALfheim project. The rest are from our branches in Britain, and New Zealand. The other nations work too but we had to make some last minute calls for this raid."

"That's nice. I'll need all the support once I get back in the game. I'm kind of shocked you guys take it so seriously." I said and I could see Travis smirking.

"Believe me, with the international kidnapping, since we can't bust Akihiko Kayaba, we'll be asking for permission to house Sugou in a federal prison in the U.S. Or at least a very bad prison in some other country. It just depends on what he does to the our kidnapped people." I could almost jump for joy at that news! Best news ever! "Anyway, Judai, is everyone ready? You formed your strategy yet?"

"Yep, we're about to enter. Just waiting for the green light."

"Okay. Checking all players ready?"

"Ready." Each scientist said and I noticed only a few of the scientists having head sets on, I think maybe five of them but I was happy to see the group in the game go into action.

It was a rather interesting tactic. The players formed a cone like formation, with stronger players making up the outer wall while healers and spell casters made up the inside, healing and shooting out spells to help support the outer forces. The cone formed upward to its tip and I could see Judai being one of players at the top, using a sword to attack the NPC guards while another Cait Sith, I think it was Katrina, pulled back on a bow with a glowing white arrow before letting it fly. Benefit of arrows and having so many people inside the NPC hive, the NPCs were so focused on the players, the arrow shot up and hit the gate at the very top of the chamber.

"Okay, Travis! Do your thing!" Judai shouted, as Katrina began shooting arrows at the oncoming deadly NPCs.

"Got it! Everyone, its our time to shine people!" Travis began typing away, faster than I've ever seen a person type before but everyone was typing on their keyboards as well, trying to hack through the fire walls of the game. Then the large screen that took up most of the wall in front of us turned on and it showed a long empty corridor. "We're in! Judai, get everyone to retreat."

"Right, everyone! Fall back!" It seemed like forever but the entire group left the chamber and all the while, the room was quiet watching the large screen. Travis didn't move the controller but he stared at the screen sweating slightly and I don't blame him. The room was tense with patients, waiting incase something happened and they'd lose the feed but after thirty minutes, nothing happened. The best way to describe this, is a group of commanders sitting together waiting for news an operation was successful in a military mission. No one spoke, sweat was clear on everyone's brows, a few didn't even seem to breathe and I'll admit, I was one of them. 'Please, don't notice us. Don't let the butterfly king find the program.' I prayed, watching the monitors as well. Finally, one of the scientists said they were all clear to move and that they didn't trigger any security problems. The entire room gave a sigh of relief and a few even clapped. Who knew stuff like this could be so tense.

"Okay everyone, I think that's it. Steven, Rebecca, I need you to stay here and help me with the security monitor. We'll be getting out first exploration into the base tonight." Many of the scientists left but I stayed, looking at Travis.

"Do you want me to stay?" Travis nodded, wiping the sweat away on his sleeve.

"Yeah, if we find Asuna tonight, we're going to need you to talk to her. You know her better and we don't want her freaking out." I nodded, resting back in my chair not even noticing the door opening and my brother walking in and adjusting his shirt.

"How'd it go?"

"So far it's a success but I don't want to jinx it." Travis said, knocking on a random block of wood on his desk before moving the joystick pad closer to him. "Isabelle, your headset is the only one on so you'll be the one communicating with anyone. Try to pretend to be an NPC if you see someone who looks like a worker."

"You mean those tentacle monsters."

"Yep."

"Okay… can you use the joystick to kick them?"

"Yes but we're not doing that."

"Oh if only you were this serious all the time." Jason sighed exasperatedly as she plopped into the chair next to me. "Believe me, when we're not doing a major operation like this, he's a nuts."

"I prefer the term creative, thanks."

"And I think I get the inspiration for Don't Hug Me I'm Scared."

"What?"

"Look it up, Travis. It's on YouTube."

Travis didn't respond as he moved the joystick and we watched from the pixie's eyes as it flies through the corridors. We actually found a map and we used the translation patch to find see what was in the tree. One room I don't remember seeing, or rather I don't remember being part of the map when I rewatched the ALO arc was an area that seemed to lead to a second floor. We did find the brain room and that was the first place we checked but we didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Okay I'm going to say my definition of ordinary has completely been thrown out of the window. The room was filled with floating brains and slug monsters with tentacles that could be found in…. more adult animes out there. That's something I gotta wonder, why the hell did Sugou even make his co-workers take that form? Then again, Sugou isn't that appealing as well. I cannot take a villain with butterfly wings and dressed in a robe seriously.

"Lets go to that upstairs chamber. I think that should lead to an exit near Asuna's cage…. I think." I whisper, covering my mic. Great, the situation is getting me tense.

"Rodger that." Travis said and quickly had the pixie fly out of the room and up the stairs. What we saw though was something that made my stomach clench. Not that it wasn't pretty, no. The place was gorgeous. It was the people.

The area looked very much like a level from Aincrad. A circular room with a ceiling that looked like the sky but it was very high up and in the center of the large room was a castle. There were people flying around on what appeared to be white angel wings but all wore some form of deep green. The looks on their faces portrayed a look of blissful happiness but their eyes looked almost dead and shattered. Many talked to each other and we could hear them say "isn't today wonderful" or "Hail the Fairy King, Oberon". It was at this point I had to remove my headset and scream into my shirt. I didn't need to hear the scientist confirm the identities of these people. Still, I heard it anyway.

"…. Can… can you identity anyone from out database?" Travis said, his voice deadly calm but he let go of the joystick since his hands were shaking.

"That woman there…" The scientist, Steven said, looking at the screen with a look of absolute horror. "That… that's my sister in law, Megan… She's one of the missing players."

I shook in my chair, hugging myself slightly as I stared at the screen. Those poor people! Forget the floating brains in the room below! They get out of the game with no negative side effects. These people are going to have it worse! Not only do they actually have wings, but also their minds have been messed with! For all we know, they have forgotten the real world and Sugou made them believe they are actually fairies meant to worship him as a god! In fact, speak of the devil and he shall appear. From the castle, Sugou, in his Oberon avatar was walking out of the castle and all the special betas rejoiced seeing him and it was clear Sugou was eating up all the attention with that smug look on his face.

"Please tell me you're recording this." I growled as Rebecca nodded.

"Yeah, we can use this in court with other forms of evidence." Rebecca said as we waited for the villain to leave at last.

"We should get to the castle, I think that's where we can climb further into the tree and find Asuna." Jason said as the scientists nodded. I think we weren't planning to go this far but after seeing what Sugou was doing to the special betas, we felt the need to go all out. That includes finding Asuna. I wasn't paying much attention but I saw how there was a door behind Oberon's throne that led to a staircase up to the outside of the world tree and in the distance, we saw a large golden bird cage with a figure inside with long auburn.

"That's her!" I shouted, putting my headset back on. "Come on, we're nearly there."

"Right." Travis moved the pixie through the bars of the cage and landed in front of Asuna, who sat at the table, her head hung and a look of sadness on her face. The expression turned to annoyance when she saw the pixie in front of her.

"What? Isn't imprisoning me enough for you, Sugou?" She asked, her voice over flowing with discuss on her face.

"Actually, this isn't Sugou's doing." I said, into the mic and I was happy to see the shocked look on her face. "Surprised? Its me, Belle. I'm glad we managed to get to you even if it's like this."

"Oh god, Belle." A shine came back to Asuna's eyes as she picked up the pixie in her hands. "Are you all right? What's going on with you? Are you trapped in the game as well? Also, what's with the pixie?"

"One at a time, please." I laughed and I could see a smile forming on Asuna's face. "First off, I'm perfectly fine. I'm back home though that's going to be a lot of explaining. As for what's going on with me, I'm working with a group to help you and the others to get you and the other trapped players out of the game. And no, I am not trapped in the game nor am I a pixie."

"Then… how are we speaking? Unless…"

"Using a program the Fire Revolution created to communicate with you from the real world."

"Fire Revolution? The guild from SAO?" Asuna asked, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Actually, they were a guild of players from the real world I'm from working with the government to get the players out." Asuna seemed to sparkle when she heard this and I wanted to laugh. "Anyway, we can't get players up to you since the quest blocking our way to get you is near impossible thanks to the butterfly rapist keeping you in a cage."

"You know about him?" My now queen friend said looking shocked.

"Yeah, we got a lot to talk about this but for now… know we're going to get you out soon. I'm going to actually make an account and join the guild already stations in the game to get you out."

"Belle…. Why….? You don't have to risk yourself if you're going to get killed." Asuna said, her voice cracking as guilt spread across her face.

"I won't be a special beta this time so dying in game shouldn't affect my real body." I say, trying to reassure her. "Plus, if I was in your situation and you knew I needed help, I'm sure you would've done the same for me. We are friends after all and we've known each other for little over two years now. We've lived together and supported each other through out SAO."

"B… Belle… T… thank you." Asuna said, and I could see tears of happiness on her face as she pulled the tiny pixie into a hug so all we could see was a mass of hair.

"Um… not that I don't mind the hugs even though I can't feel them. I want to introduce you to someone." I say as Asuna pulled away and looked at me.

"Who? Also… are you alone and can you see all this?" A blush formed on Asuna's face as she tried to cover herself more. Come to think of it, I've never seen Asuna wear anything too revealing. Leave it to Sugou to make her wear something like that all the time.

"I'm not alone, I'm actually in a room with scientist who have been helping guild the pixie to your location but that doesn't matter."

"Hey!" Travis shouted as Jason laughed and Asuna looked started.

"W… who was that?"

"That was Travis, one of our scientists." I laughed, as Asuna sighed in relief. "Anyway," I took off my headset and placed one of the ear parts to Jason's ear. "This is my little brother, Jason. You remember me telling you about him?"

"Huh? You actually talked about me before?!" Jason asked and Asuna began laughing.

"Yes, she talked about you. My name is Asuna. Pleasure to meet you… well hear you anyway."

"I… I'm Jason." Jason said, blushing madly. Whether he had a crush on Asuna or because I embarrassed him, I will never know. "But… call me Judai. It's best to not use our real names right now incase Butterfly Rapist King comes back." You know something… I've never seen Asuna laugh really hard before. She's always been very ladylike but when Jason said that, Asuna began laughing like crazy. Maybe it's because she finally had someone to talk to that wasn't Sugou, or maybe it was because someone was making fun of him.

"Guys, we're going to have to stop for the night. Asuna can you hear me?" Travis ask and getting a nod as a response. "Good, we're going to leave the pixie with you. We'll keep you informed of what will happen. For now, pretend you never saw us and hide the pixie from Sugou as best as you can."

"Okay." Asuna said, looking serious and I smiled.

"See you soon, maybe then we can hang out and have some fun for once."

"Yeah, I'd like that." The transmission ended and the screen turned off as we all gave a sigh of relief.

"Looks like Operation Pixie was a success." Jason sighed, closing his eyes. "But now we know our missing players are trapped in the World Tree as well."

"Yes, we're going to need to discuss this another time though. Now that we know they are there, we can formulate the next course of action, which shouldn't be too difficult." Travis said, looking to me and I think I knew why. As an SAO survivor, I have more experience than most of the players already in the game. Plus with the way the strategies the team has been working on, I think we can make it to the World Tree, or at least get enough supplies and weapons to get there without much trouble… but even then we gotta be careful. "Anyway, lets call it a night. Isabelle, do you mind if I speak to your brother before he takes you back to the dorms? You'll be informed on the next course of action this Friday when you sign in for the first time on ALO." Travis said and I nodded.

"Sure. Its Katrina still here?"

"Yep, you'll find her in the cafeteria having dinner. See you in a bit, sis."

"Yeah." I nodded, leaving the room and trying to hide my yawn. I was so stressed by the whole operation I didn't realize how tired I was. Still, it was good seeing Asuna again. If anything seeing her and what happened to the special betas is giving me more motivation to fly up to the world tree and do a lot of harm to Sugou for messing with so many people's lives. But I may tone it down a little. I will be so happy if he is placed in an American prison that I won't need to do anything. I'll let the inmates turn girlie butterfly king into their little go to lover. Not only that, with what we recorded, we should get the green light to be able to prepare our forces to go in and rescue the players and Asuna. The first step has been cleared. 'Soon, he will get what he deserves.' I think, walking into the cafeteria for my ride home.

* * *

Jason: Um... is Crystal okay?

London: it looks like she's in a cute coma.

Paris: Cute coma?

London: Passed out looking at puppy pictures.

Paris: Oh.

Belle: Anyway, I guess it's up to us to detail what the new poll will be about as well as talking about the next chapter... um... *glares at Jason*

Jason: I swear I'm innocent! Anyway, Crystal has a few one-shots on the vote. One being me and Kirito playing... um... HuniePop using the full dive system... *gives a nervous laugh as his sister looks ready to strangle him* The other is a disneyland trip with Belle and all her SAO friends and me, and the rest will be placed on the poll. Just wanted to let you guys know that. Also, themed one-shots like for Valentine's Day, White Day, and Christmas will be done as well so they won't be on the list.

Belle: yeah... Jason, if you ever play a mature game like HuniePop I'm gonna kick you before Dad can ground you.

Jason: Aw come on!

Belle: anyway, please join us next time in Chapter 3: Fairies or Women, Both are Deadly. The introduction of Leafa and well... Jason, I am sorry but never mess with a girl who can beat you up.

Jason: I can take her on!

Belle: right, she's got years of experience so we'll see.


	3. Chapter 3: Fairies or Women

Crystal: Hi everyone! Thank you for your support! All the reviews have been absolutely amazing. Sadly, I personally feel this chapter may not be my best. For those who have known me for a while, my family and I have been helping a long time family friend with her battle with cancer. Just last Thursday night, she finally gave in and passed away. I'm helping my mom recover from all this and hopefully things will get better this coming Thanksgiving. On a lighter note: I got the first of the ALO arc in light novel... yes I actually bought the book and it's not that bad. It made me like Suguha a bit more so that's something. But whether there will be a Asuna x Jason or Suguha x Jason... I will not say! XD

Jason: Yeah, don't say it. It's already weird for me right now.

Isabelle: Yeah, if you fall for Kazuto's little sister, I worry for you, brother. Kazuto is still in his 'trying to be good big brother' phase so you'll need to watch out.

Crystal: Anyway, I'm currently working on the next chapter so I hope to have that out as soon as possible, with the holidays, family, and school work going on as well. TT^TT. So now... TO THE DISCLAIMERS!

Disclaimers: I do not own Sword Art Online. I only own Belle, Jason, and the rest of the OCs. Now, please enjoy. If you do not like this story at all, there is a mini tardis in the corner of your internet screen that can take you back into the past.

* * *

Chapter 3: Fairies or Women, Both Are Deadly

Jason's POV

I watched as my sister left the lab. Wonder what Travis wants to talk about. If this had to do with the whole Don't Hug me I'm Scare thing, I don't want to be in the room when he watches the video. I don't need him to shake me for exposing him to the weirdness of "creativity". Still, Travis didn't say anything, rather was busy typing something and moving things on his computer. I looked to see Steven and Rebecca and wasn't surprised to see the female scientist comforting Steven. Like me, Steven had joined with the goals of helping find a family member and even though he was already over twenty-five, he was the one I got along best with in the F.R and even was my beginning communicator when I started ALO. I can't imagine what kind of pain he's feeling now. Unlike me, he had two people to save, his older brother and wife. Thankfully, the brother came back with the rest of the SAO special betas but is currently in the care of the hospital, turns out the guy was fighting a monster with a party and was injured right before everyone logged out. The fact that Steven now has to tell his brother his wife may now not even know who he is may be the hardest thing a person can do.

"Hey, Jason." I looked to Travis, who was holding out my external hard drive. "I added a new program in and I want you to do something at least once a day."

"Huh? What?" I asked, surprised at Travis's serious behavior. Then again, after what we saw, I think we're all pretty sobered up from out success with Operation Pixie.

"I need you to spend at least two hours a day talking to Asuna."

"Huh!? Why?" I asked, shocked at this request. "Why not make my sister do it? She knows Asuna better than any of us."

"Exactly. Besides, Isabelle has a lot of other things to focus on if she's planning to start ALO." Travis said, turning his chair to look at me. "Once Isabelle becomes a full member of the Fire Revolution, she'll need to focus on raising her skills enough to go into combat for her to even be allowed into the squad we planned for the World Tree. Also, though it will be up to her decision, if she wanted to become a commander of one of the branches of F.R in ALO it's her choice. She does have more experiences than most of us since she been in SAO for two years but that's only for sword work. Other skills she'll have to train."

"I guess…. But again, why me?"

"Well, simple…. You're here and got introduced to Asuna."

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Just do it, please. You must feel something for her predicament. Days work differently in the game. She must have a hard time keeping up to date on how long she's been trapped."

Truth was, I did feel for Asuna, at least what she had to go through. I got to read a bit of the light novel for the Fairy Dance bit and how it felt for Asuna to be sent to ALO against her will. Plus, the only person she had contact with was the overcompensating butterfly man who is in desperate need of steroids. That and his whole 'I will dominate you' thing does piss me off. Since when has that ever worked for guys? I always saw other guys beating each other up because they wanted to prove they were better than the other for the sake of a girl… and the possible chance to get laid but like I care. I prefer living to getting my head slammed to the ground. I sighed and took the hard drive, placing it into my bag.

"Okay, I'll do it, but I'm going to tell Isabelle about it later. She deserves time to talk to her friend."

"Sure, whatever you think is best." I didn't meeting Travis's eyes but left the room trying to think on what to say to my sister. Though the whole thing was wiped from my mind when I saw Katrina and Isabelle talking in the mostly empty cafeteria. The two of them were sitting there with tea and each having a slice of cake.

"What is this, a tea party?" I asked, raising my eyebrows as the two.

"For your information, it's actually very relaxing." Katrina said, drinking her tea, which was in a Styrofoam cup. "Anyway, Isabelle was telling me about what happened after we pulled out…. Is it true? About the special betas?"

"Yep, the hospital is going to be pretty busy when they return." I say, looking at my sister. "Almost forgot. You're going to be logging into ALO for the first time in two days. Have you decided which fairy race you'll be?"

"Yeah, I was thinking a sylph." Isabelle admitted and I frowned slightly.

It's not that I don't like the sylphs. Most of them were decently nice all accept for one: Sigurd. Yep, the one who gets labeled a renegade later on in the series and believe me, he is an annoying A-hole. He's been the one causing trouble for the F.R in sylph territory, making claims that they are renegades and traitors to the sylph race. I've only met him once and it was when I was traveling to the neutral territory where the F.R's base for sylphs was. He kept spouting on and on about how the F.R were a guild of renegades and should not be allowed. If it weren't for Sakuya, I think things may have gotten out of hand but I did shout for the bung hole to shut up. Not that the people were ready to fight us. They were more shocked to see the man raving like a mad man; I wouldn't be surprised if the version of him in the real world was foaming at the mouth.

"Um…. Jason, you okay?" Isabelle asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, I was just thinking. Do you mind if I wait for you in the capitol of sylph territory when you log in? We can party and I can show you around a bit."

"Sure. I could use all the help I can get." Isabelle admitted looking relieved. "Anyway, lets get going home. I'm kind of tired." Okay, that was a lie, it was clear from the way her eyes always looked down slightly. She probably wanted to be alone to think more on what happened. None of us spoke as we Katrina dropped us back at the dorm and bid each other good night. Plugging in the hard drive, I decided to let the program that'll connect me to Asuna install into my computer for the night while I sleep, hoping to start my first talk with her tomorrow. Giving me some time to think on what exactly to say to her.

The next day was the same as ever, with classes and what not but when it ended for the day, I went straight home and sat at my desk ready to start talking to Asuna…. Problem though. I don't know what to say! I spent last night thinking and I completely drew a blank! What do you do when talking to a girl when her real body is in a fictional world and in a coma while her mind is trapped in a cage in a video game? How do you start talking? What do you say? I don't know what to do. 'How the hell do I even do this?' I think, running my fingers through my hair, trying to repress the sudden urge to yank the hairs out of my scalp in my mental frustration. Really, it's not like talking to someone you met online. At least then you can start something at random and then let it snowball from there. Asuna has been locked up in that cage for a month, I'll be the only other person she's talked to and I wanted to make a good first impression. I look to my bookshelf, looking at the books I had. Some were young adult books I read while in middle school and I some times still read when I just want something to escape to that wasn't virtual reality. I wonder….

I called Asuna, placing the headset on me as my monitor turned on and I could see Asuna sitting on her bed her back to me. The pixie was probably under the pillow as to be hidden from Sugou because part of the screen was blocked by a white cloth. I spoke into the mic, startling Asuna, who turned to me with wide eyes.

"Asuna, it's okay. It's me, Judai." I say as Asuna looked at the pixie.

"Judai? Oh!" It took her a minute to remember our talk yesterday as she moved to pick up the pixie. "How are you doing, is Belle with you?"

"Sadly no, she's still at school doing her homework and will probably be home in a few hours." I say, trying to keep calm. "Um… I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out."

"Oh… well… sure." Asuna said, pretty surprised. "What do you want to do?"

"Well, I was thinking you'd be bored sitting in that room alone so… I was wondering if you'd like me to read you one of my books. You can tell me if you don't like it. I was just wondering." Asuna thought for a moment and then moved to get more comfortable.

"Okay, what's the story?"

"It's the first of the Percy Jackson Series, _The Lightning Thief_."

"Lightning thief? What kind of book is that?" I could almost laugh as Asuna's expression turned into one of pondering wonder.

"You'll see, it kind of mixes Greek Mythology with modern day…. Well… at least the one I'm from. You guys must have it pretty advance."

"I guess…" Asuna said, looking a little sad and I could tell she kind of missed the real world. Then again, who wouldn't be in Asuna's position? "Still, I'd like to hear the story. You also said it was a series, how many books are there?"

"Five and it has a sequel series." I say, kind of happy she was getting interested. "Anyway, to Chapter One: I Accidently Vaporized my Pre-Algebra Teacher."

"Huh? What kind of title is that?" Asuna asked, and I was happy to see she was smiling and looking happy. Bet she never smiled like this for King 'I'm so evil its obvious'.

"You'll see, Asuna. It gets better from there."

I didn't realize I talked with her for a whole four hours. I gotta admit, it was fun reading the book to Asuna, who seemed really happy about it. We would talk about the chapter a bit before moving on and it was fun to hear Asuna's views on how different American culture was to Japanese. She seemed to like Percy a lot, finding him an interesting character with a very good mother in his life. By the time we got to the chapter when Sally, Percy's mom, gets turned to dust in the grip of the Minotaur, Asuna was just staring in shock.

"N… No! Why did she have to die? She was a good mom! And in front of Percy too!"

"I know, right? I remember reading this for the first time and then running to find my sister." Asuna suddenly looked sad and a bit guilty, her head lowered slightly.

"I… I'm sorry. Belle told me about your mom."

"Its okay. I mean, don't get me wrong, I miss my mom still but what can I even do?" I say, shrugging. In truth, I was still hurt by my mom's sudden death. None of us got to really say good bye and I can't heard a certain song without at least getting teary eyed, thinking about my mom. Still, I've made progress over the years. "Each of us have our own way to deal with our grief and even if the hole is still there, as long as I remember what kind of a mother she was then I shouldn't be sad. Plus, I still got pictures of her and I got Belle. She's worked hard after Mom died and I think our mother would be proud of her." An awkward silence filled the room and I was desperate to change the topic. I wonder… what's Asuna's mom like? That's when I looked at the clock and realized I had been talking with Asuna for the last four hours! I had to go into ALO to get stationed in Sylph territory for when Isabelle logs in tomorrow. Asuna seemed to notice the change and finally looked up at me… or at least the pixie in her room. And I just realized, the pixie is a female form…. I'M A FEMALE PIXIE WITH A MALE VOICE!

"Judai?"

"Sorry, Asuna. I'm late for something. Do you mind if we continue this tomorrow?"

"Oh! Of course." Asuna gave me a warm smile that made the blood rise to my face. "See you tomorrow."

"S… See you tomorrow." I said, and ended the call between us. What… what was that about? Hormones? She _is_ a girl. A very pretty girl… wearing kind of skimpy clothes… and had a pretty voice… and was very nice. Damn you male teenage hormones! I'm reacting to a bunch of ones and zeroes! I jumped out of my chair and landed on the floor as someone burst out laughing behind me and I turned to see Katrina standing there, huddled over and laughing her pants off. "What the hell, Kats! What are you doing here?!"

"Picking you up for the next dive. Though…. It seemed like you were enjoying yourself nicely. I didn't know you were online dating."

"Am not!" I shouted, though my voice was a little higher than expected and the fact I could feel my face burning wasn't helping. "Besides, Travis asked me to keep talking to Asuna. To keep her company."

"Oh? Then why did I have to wait here for a whole hour?"

"We were talking!"

"Then why is your face red?"

"Because I'm fricking yelling at you!"

"And what about your pants?"

"There's nothing there, you pervert! Why the hell are you even looking there?!" I swear, Katrina lives to make me yell at her. Just because she's twenty and I'm fifteen doesn't mean I need to get teased all the time. I got Isabelle and her friends for that so I don't need another person. Plus she's my assistant, but that's probably why she's doing it. She's the one who keeps me on track but that doesn't mean I have to like it. After my last outburst, Katrina fell to the ground, laughing madly as I managed to get up. "So, I'm an hour late?"

"Yeah, everyone kept texting us. You would've noticed if you even had your phone out." Hm… she's right. Looking at my phone, I found at least fifteen texts from Travis asking me where I was ranging from 'Jason, you're late' to 'If you're talking to Asuna, keep it professional and in your pants'. For an adult, the man can act pretty juvenile…

"I swear I'm going to kick that guy in the nuts." I growled, putting my phone away. "Lets just go before Travis does anything else."  
"You got it, lover boy."

"Say any more and I will kick you too."

"I'd like to see you try."

It didn't take long for us to drive to the hospital again and I quickly walked into the hospital to my room to log in. Katrina would be reporting to Travis and really, I didn't want to look at the guy right now. I didn't want him to tease me about being late and I think he'd guess I really was talking to Asuna this entire time. He was the one who told me to get to know her more… though this became more than a mission now. Besides, most of the times we dive, we're either leveling out skills or hanging out so really going in was just to make a regular pattern. Once I dived into ALO, I appeared in my room at the base for the F.R guild of the Cait Sith. It kind of feels weird to be honest, having cat ears and a tail but I get to use moon magic which is pretty amazing really. Plus flying is something I don't mind at all.

"Hey, Judai. About time you got here." I turned to see one of my party members, Luke, looking at me. His real name is Thomas and he's actually one of the first volunteers like me though he's twenty like Katrina. He was sitting on the bed next to mine, his tail waving behind him either from irritation or something else. I've never owned a cat so I wouldn't know. "What's up? You're never this late. I didn't think you'd even come."

"Sorry, I lost track of time IRL." I said, stretching my cat ears twitching slightly. "Anyway, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what?"

"You know the guild's dragon?"

"You mean Spike?"

"Yeah…. Why did we name him that again?"

"I think Ariel's sister got a hold of the keyboard and named him after that character from _My Little Pony_."

"Well, at least he's not named after Barney." I sighed, rubbing my ears and feeling fur. "Anyway, can you use him to take me into Sylph territory?"

"Well sure but why? Tomorrow is the opening day for the new volunteers."

"Yeah, and my sister is one of them and I was hoping to help her a bit with getting used to the game. She's an SAO survivor so I thought I'd give her a bit of help before people start telling her about the whole race war." I said, getting off the very comfy bed. "Plus, I don't want her to get near Sigurd. He'll probably try to start a fight when he realizes she's going to be a part of F.R."

"He'll still start a fight if he sees you." Luke pointed out and that was pretty much true no matter what I did since I'm a head of a guild going to another race's territory.

"Yeah well, if he does, remember his popularity is on the line and Sakuya and Alicia Rue have been working on a peace treaty for weeks now. If he attacks me, he'll ruin any possible alliance and there will be no real gain for him. In fact I think he'll be to blame for attacking without provocation." I pointed out, as my navigation Pixie, Eve, came out of my pocket. "I just gotta keep it low for a bit."

"Well, okay. Just don't get yourself killed. We don't want you decommissioned in another race's territory."

"I'll try. Let's just hope there are no blood thirsty characters are there today."

Another cool thing about ALfheim that everyone knows about, you can fly and I don't mean like the Disney's Peter Pan movie with pixie dust. We got wings and each race has a different wing style, which is very awesome. But the best thing about the Cait Sith, we got dragons to help us fly to certain areas. Very big depending on your skill, when riding a dragon you kind of feel powerful… or at least like Harry Potter when he rode on the dragon in the last book without the fear of dying. I rode on Spike's back, Luke holding onto the dragon by the ropes and keeping it on course towards Sylph territory.

"Okay, this is the boarder of Sylph and Cait Sith. From here you walk."

"You mean fly."

"Same thing in this world." Luke said, as I stood up, feeling my wings form on my back.

"Kay. I'll message you when I get there." I said, and flew towards the capitol of Sylph territory. I can see why Sylphs love this place, very green with lush trees. It was neither too hot not too cold. Finally, I found the capital, Swilvane, and landed in the plaza much to the surprise of many of its people. I will be the first to admit, when I first saw the city from the distance at night, I could've sworn I was seeing the Emerald City form the _Wizard of Oz_ but I knew better now. A few of the players were staring at me but I ignored them. Really, it's best to do that so that you don't get attacked. After all, I was in there territory, I couldn't attack them but they could attack me and I didn't want to paint a target on my back just yet. Not when I was tempted to stab Sigurd multiple times. 'I think I got some time, I'm going to hit the local tavern and get a snack in game.' Awesome thing about VRMMORPS, you can kind of taste food in this world but it makes you crave food IRL. Seriously, the first time I ever ate in ALO, I craved grapefruit when I woke up and I hate that stuff with a burning passion.

The moment I walked into a nearby tavern, I knew my luck was going to run out. Sitting at one of the largest tables was Sigurd and his party, including Leafa. I've never seen Leafa in game before but the first time that came to my mind makes me glad Isabelle wasn't with me. 'Wow, her boob size is the same as real life.' I know! It's normal for a guy to think about that but look at her in the anime, her boob size is the same both in game and reality! I think she would also like the virtual world because she won't be able to feel the lower back pain holding those things up. 'I wonder if she has a lot of back pain.' I thought, taking my seat and ordering some food: a fresh berry tart and some tea. Note to self, get a tart when I get home. As I ate, I could feel Sigurd and his party watching at me but as usual, I ignored them until I heard footsteps and a shadow covering my tasty tart.

"Okay, what's a Cait Sith doing in sylph territory alone? Do you seriously have a death wish?" I looked up to see Leafa, looking down at me, with her hands on her hips. I don't think she intended to but the way she held herself made me think of Jessica Rabbit from _Who Framed Rodger Rabbit_ and how um… her front seemed to bulge out. Still, I looked at those fiery green eyes that were glaring at me but also had curiosity in them.

"Well, that's my business. Sorry to be a little crabby but this is kind of my snack and I would appreciate it if you and your party members stop glaring at me." I say, sighing and going back to my food. "ALO is a world to explore, if you limit yourself to your own race then you're not taking advantage of this virtual world."

"Huh, I… you…. But…" I think I shocked Leafa but it's true. The whole race war in ALO doesn't fully make sense to me and neither is the idea of why they would think Oberon would give that special ability to just one fairy race. Then again, he is the F Tard who is doing illegal studies on people so I guess it kind of makes sense… actually no! He wouldn't even give the power because the area is blocked off! "D… do…. Do you mind if I sit and talk with you?" I looked up at Leafa and see she looked kind of amazed at me and I nodded.

"Sure, order food if you want. I don't mind." I say, drinking my tea but Leafa stopped me.

"I… I'm sorry." She whispered. "Don't drink the tea, I kind of poisoned it."

"Oh?" Okay, I wasn't expected that. Why would she try to poison me? Oh right, Sigurd and his paranoia. I gotta hand it to Leafa, I didn't think she could poison my drink without me noticing. Though, I wonder if Sigurd is one of those players who put too much of their life online and are a-holes because they believe they're superior to others?

"Sigurd wanted you dead since he doesn't like you always coming here." Leafa whispered, and I nodded.

"Well then, thanks for letting me know." I said, giving her a respectful smile. Hey, she could've let me die since player killing is normal in this game but she was nice enough to help me. "Order anything you like, my treat."

"Thanks." Leafa said, sitting across from me and ordering her food. I could see Sigurd and his party still glaring and I guessed they expected me to get poisoned by now. "So… you're name is Judai?" I looked up to see the serious, guarded look on Leafa's face.

"Yep, that's me. I'm guessing Sigurd told you about me from our last meeting."

"Is it true you started a fight with him?" Leafa whispered and I shook my head.

"Nope, he started shouting accusations when I was talking to some friends of mine who are sylphs. He kind of reminds me of those overly hyper people spouting out religious themes when really they're saying nothing that's actually in the bible." I swear Leafa's expression of amazement grew even more at that point.

"Are you American by any chance?"

"Correct, I'm American."

"I… I didn't know we were on an international server." Leafa admitted and I couldn't help but grin.

"I'm on an English patch of the game. I heard it was amazing for it's flight simulation." Which was one of the things I was actually looking forward to. "Honestly, my friends and I didn't know about the whole Grand Quest so we all chose different races so we always travel to see each other. That and our online community is so big that we have to balance meeting them here and now not worrying about getting attacked in other territories. Still, it's fun to party with other fairy races."

"Oh, that makes sense." Leafa said with an exasperated sigh. "Though, you could've done more research on the game before you guys logged in. You could've just been the same race and party together from that."

"Then where's the fun in diversity?" I asked, and I gotta admit, I kind of liked talking to her. It was clear Leafa was somewhat a product of the race she was a part of. But I do remember hearing from somewhere she wasn't interested in the politics of ALO. She's probably only asking me these questions to test me but I can see why she's so willing to go with Kirito when she meets him.

"I… I never really thought about that." Leafa admitted and when our eyes met again, she had an embarrassed but eager look on her face. "What's it like being a Cait Sith?"

"That's enough." We looked up to see Sigurd and his men getting up and walking over to us. Sigurd's face was a mess of anger that made him look almost like a pug. "I will not have you brainwashing my party member."

"I'm not doing anything like that. Besides, she can think what she wants. She's her own person and you can't control that." I say, feeling annoyed at Sigurd's statement.

"Why you… I will not have you manipulating our party members!" Oh if only there were more players around, maybe Sigurd would be a little more behaved instead of acting like a pretentious prick. Because I've known how he acts for a while now… I wasn't surprised to see the coward look to Leafa. "Leafa, you're new to this party. Prove yourself by getting rid of this filthy feline."

"Huh? But he hasn't done anything wrong!" Leafa shouted and I decided to act.

"Sure, I think I can take her." I said, standing up and trying to feel confident. "That is, unless you're unwilling to face me in a duel." Leafa glared at me, her eyes turning into fiery emeralds as I can hear the sound of her gripping her katana. "What do you say? One duel? Till one of us loses all our health."

"Okay, but just so you know. I'm stronger than I look."

"I know that." I say, giving Leafa a mock bow, which allowed me to lean in a bit closer to her so I can whisper something only she can hear. "Just follow my lead."

"Huh?"

"So? You wanna duel or not?" I asked, standing back up. "We'll have to do this outside but again, this is up to you." Leafa gave me a stunned look before her serious glare came back.

"I said I would. Come on, Mister Big-Shot." I smiled a bit, following Leafa outside the tavern and to the main plaza. It was beg enough not only for a ground battle but also air battle. Still, I doubt I can do much with Sigurd watching me like a hawk. No matter, it's a duel. Whatever happens, happens. I just need to make sure I'm able to stay in Sylph Territory so I can help Isabelle out when she logs in. Though I will admit, as Leafa and I got set up for our duel and I could see the timer going off Leafa looked pretty composed. It's hard to believe she can be such a ditz IRL… at least how the anime made her seem.

'She's still really good at kendo. Don't let your guard down.' I thought, as the buzzer went off and Leafa and I charged at each other. Right away, I knew our skills were different. From what I know from SAO, that had an attack system so that anyone could use a weapon with the right position. In ALO, it's way different. Real life physical ability also affects the way the game is played. Combat depends on my physical abilities in the real world and I'll admit, I only started practicing swords recently and even then it's mostly based off the sword styles from the _Star Wars_ movies…. So I wanted to learn how to fight like a Jedi when I was a kid, shut up! Plus, I haven't been in ALO for very long.

Anyway, I don't have much skills when it comes to fighting and what little skill I have is also maxed with my magic, which I've spent more time on since… well…. I don't seen people giving out lessons on how to fight with swords around my neighborhood. Leafa or rather, Suguha actually, has more experience than anyone I've really seen. America is more about shooting guns and what not. Suguha has been learning kendo since she was a small child and I didn't need to see the anime to know that. Just fighting her right now is hard enough. I'm shuffling my feet, trying to block her attacks and at least get five strikes in. Leafa knew where to hit me but I blocked it with my blade, letting me lean in a bit.

"Listen to me, Leafa." I whispered to her as she stared at me. "Don't look freaked out or Sigurd will get suspicious. I need you to end this battle now. If you can, revive me away from Sigurd so we can talk. I'll tell you why I'm here." Leafa stared at me for a moment, leaning her sword to keep us both pushing against each other. Her emerald green eyes seem to burn into mine with such a fire I think men would fall for. That is, as long as they're not at the end of her blade.

"How do I know you won't try something?" She hissed and I looked into those eyes.

"Because I'm not here to pick a fight. I didn't mean to drag you into this but Sigurd never fights his own battles." I say and Leafa nodded.

"That's true… okay. Sorry about this." Leafa pushed me back hard and my sword went up, leaving my front exposed. I gotta say…. Leafa kind of scares me at this point. Why? Because she didn't hesitate to stick her katana right into my chest and my health bar went down to zero as my body turned into a ball of fire. Benefit though, I'm still able to see what was going on around me as I see Leafa walk over and pick up my flame in her hands. Usually, flames don't last long and even then it's mostly due to a system. When a player dies, we're given the option to either form back in our own territory or where we last died… and your opponent won't know so they can't camp the murder spot all the time. Still, it felt a bit weird to be standing in front of her and her hands in my chest as she held my flame.

"Well done, Leafa. That was an excellent fight." Sigurd said and I could see a crowd of sylphs nearby who were watching the fight. I instantly recognized them as the members of the Fire Revolution from the sylph group. They seem to nod in approval and I knew what they meant. By yielding to Sigurd, we shouldn't get harassed as much. He'll think we're weak and not his problem. At least I hope that's the case.

"Sigurd, can I have a moment? I'd like to rest up, plus it's nearly time for me to log out." Leafa said, as Sigurd nodded, satisfied now.

"Of course, if you need anything message us."

"Will do." Leafa turned, still holding my flame as she walked away. I was kind of glad she kept the flame hidden from Sigurd but why would she even do it. I didn't ask her.

Anyway, she took me to an inn and once she got a private room, she set my flame down and revived me with a healing item. Though I wasn't met with a smile. More like she was just waiting for me to explain why I was here in the first place. I sighed, putting my sword on the nearby table to show I wasn't going to attack. I didn't want this meeting to end up with a sword in my chest again.

"I came because my sister will be logging in for the first time tomorrow and she wants to be a Sylph." I said, turning to look at Leafa, who seemed shocked.

"You…. Your sister?" She asked, and I think maybe she was impressed.

"Yeah, she was one of the SAO survivors but she wanted to do something together with me so she's going back into the virtual world." I lied but it was kind of true. Isabelle was a survivor from SAO but her reasons for coming into the game were different than what I had said. Come to think of it… after seeing Asuna… I guess my own reason for going into the game has changed slightly. Leafa looked down and I could see her hands shaking.

"Why? Why would she want to go back into a game like this? I can't image what it must've been like in SAO but…. But those people lost two years…"

The heart break in her voice, she was talking about Kirito, her brother/cousin. Worst thing is, I understood what she meant. Deep down, I didn't want Isabelle to go back into the game. What if she got trapped again? All the hard work Dad and I did would've been for nothing. But in a way, Leafa had it worse. She couldn't do anything. She didn't have the means to. I remember the scene in the anime when she was watching Kirito in the hospital and crying over his sleeping body. The helplessness of all that, especially for a family member. I don't think at the time she was in love with her cousin then so… I believe those tears were really for a missing brother.

"I know what you mean, but… it's her life and she wants to do this…" I say, as Leafa looked at me. "As much as I worry, at least here I can look after her and make sure she's safe." I give Leafa a smile and for once, I felt okay and honest. "After all, that's what siblings are supposed to do, we look after each other. If she wants to go back into the game, at least in this one I can stay by her."

"Judai…." Leafa stared at me before walking up and resting her head on my shoulder.

"H… hey!"

"You know how I feel… that loneliness…. Seeing someone you care for out of your reach." Leafa said, her voice quacking. Was she crying? "I never really talked about it with anyone. My mom always had a smile on her face and tried to stay positive but…"

"It's harder than it looks." I finished for her and let Leafa continue on. But she didn't, she just kept her head on my shoulders, her body shaking and I could hear her hiccupping slightly. Both of us nearly lost someone in SAO… and though they're awake, the memories of those two years will be there. 'Maybe that's why she believes she's in love with her cousin.' I thought, closing my eyes. 'She was far away from him and her feelings are all mixed up. And now that he's being nice to her…."

"Judai… thank you." Leafa pulled away, wiping tears from her eyes and giving me a smile. "I needed to get that out. Sorry for bringing real world stuff into the game."

"Hey, you needed to get that out. If you hid it forever then it'll be hard for you in the long run. Plus, it's hard to keep emotions in check in the virtual world." I pointed out and held out a hand to her. "I don't want us to be enemies. You seem like an awesome player so can we start off again. My name's Judai." This time, without hesitation, Leafa smiled and took my hand.

"My name's Leafa, it's nice to meet you." I gave a cat like grin to Leafa but I was happy in my own way. Leafa and I had an understanding, we had something in common and I didn't have to worry about her slicing me up into tiny bits.

"Anyway, you didn't have to stab me in the chest. A simple slash would've done better." I said, patting my chest where she stuck her blade.

"What, you didn't say how to take you out." Leafa said, smirking. "Plus, that was for the whole cocky attitude thing earlier."

"Hey, that's cruel. I was only acting!" I shouted and Leafa just laughed at me.

"You know, when you yell like that your ears and tail puff out right?"

"Most cats do that, I think…" I say, blushing in embarrassment. Great, I bet Isabelle would laugh too….

"Anyway, I'm glad we had this talk. If you'd like we can be friends."

"Sure. I wouldn't mind that at all."

"Though…" Leafa looked at me and to my sword. "I heard you were a leader but you're having a hard time using a sword. Do you not know how to use it IRL?"

"Yeah, I mostly practice by myself and even then it's not much."

"Well, if you'd like I can help you a bit in training. In exchange you can do something for me."

"Like what?" I ask, with a raised eyebrow and Leafa could only smile.

"I'll let you decide that. Anyway, I gotta log out so…" Leafa flicked her finger, summoning her menu to get out of the game.

"Wait, Leafa?" I stopped her and she looked at me. "If you can, if you see a new players, ask her if she knows me. That might be my sister. If you can help her out if I don't find her first.…"

"Oh sure, I don't mind." Leafa said and giving one last smile, she logged out.

I sat on the bed, giving a slight sigh as I finally relaxed. Leafa was nice, deadly but nice… Though with boobs that make me think of a cartoon character that's married to a rabbit, I can see why Sigurd may have a second reason for wanting her around. A trophy of some kind for him to look at… that I wouldn't put it pass him to do that. Still, it was nice to see Leafa like this, not fawning over Kirito but as both as a normal girl and a warrior…. Though a warrior who is all too willing to stab me in the chest. Not only that…. But I think Suguha is pretty violent IRL. After all, she did hit her friend with a kendo stick and those things aren't plastic. I think back to Katrina in the real world, how she laughed that I was spending time with Asuna and then the way Leafa stabbed me. 'I'll never get girls.' I thought as I logged out of the game, wondering if Travis and the others saw the fight. I'm expecting Travis and Katrina to tease me if they did.

* * *

Crystal: well, Jason has met Leafa... and has failed miserably.

Jason: hey! Leafa is a good fighter in real life too! I didn't stand much of a chance!

Belle; I think I can take her on.

Paris: we know you can.

Crystal: MOVING ON! Join us next time in Chapter 4: Welcome to ALO... Belle entering ALO for the first time. What'll happen? I'll let you guess but something cute will happen. See you soon!


	4. Author's Note: Christmas Gift?

Author's Note and…. Christmas Gift?

Crystal: hey guys, Merry Christmas! Sorry for not updating. After the death of a family friend, plus a few other things with finals, I have not been able to do much writing. I am also going to Disneyworld so I won't be on as much though I am hoping to finish all of the Fairy Dance light novels for SAO. Still, as a Christmas gift… I wrote something that I will be putting into a later chapter…. And it's about the Butterfly rapist…. Yeah, he's going to do something worse and Belle is a part of said plan.

Belle: hold on, you said I get to beat him up! That was part of the deal.

Crystal: oh you will, but what's the point of beating someone in game when you can actually do it in real life?

Belle:…. I get to beat him up in real life?... Wait, how is that possible?

Crystal: that'll be explained in at least a chapter or two… maybe three but I have been planning this for a while now. Anyway, this scene…. I may add it into the later chapter and fans will know what scene this is. Why?... one of the most infamous scenes of SAO's fairy arc and I don't mean tentacles. So, I'd like to hear from you guys if I should keep this scene or not…. And please be kind. This is a Christmas gift and I had to do it in the limited time for prepping for my vacation and life stuff.

* * *

I wince as I felt my body begin to buckle under the stain of the change in gravity. Even in game, it felt weird since my body is meant to be lighter but now the weight made it seem like someone was trying to make me whole an elephant or at least a hippo. Yui was still in my arms while Judai tried to keep himself and Asuna steady, though it was clear we were all ready to buckle down at any moment. Even Kirito, the overpowered gaming overlord that he is, was having difficulties in standing and poor Adam was already on the ground, caught off guard by the spell places on us.

"Mommy, be careful. Something bad is coming." Yui warned, a fearful look in his eyes.

"Y...Yui, we have to go now. Before we're deleted." Adam ordered and the two faded just as we fell to our knees.

"B...Belle." Kirito tried to reach out for me and thankfully was grabbed each other's hands before the gravity spell got stronger sending us all down crashing to the ground with such force. I think I would have bitten my tongue off if I was still a special beta. I could hear Judai whispering to Asuna, saying it would be okay as she sank to laying on the ground while Judai struggled to stay on one knee. I think after he saw Asuna getting molested by Sugou's coworkers, he was probably dreading this moment. And really, I was too. This whole thing can go horribly wrong if Kayaba doesn't show up and help us and I don't want to see my friend getting sexually assaulted, even if it gives me more motivation to kick the butterfly rapist in the balls, cut them off, and feed them to a shark... Wait I don't want to give the shark indigestion. Maybe throw them into a volcano then watching them burn away what little manhood the guy had. My beautiful mental image of balls burning in pool lava was interrupted by the man I so wish would fall into a sink hole and end up in hell.

"Surprise, surprise, the last thing I expected to find was a few cockroaches in my little bird's cage."

"You got to be kidding me. Sugou!" Kirito shouted and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Finally, we meet face to face in game Mr 'I like to molest girls'. Tell me, Nobuyuki Sugou, how does it feel to have such a tiny sense of being a man?" I said, oh how I wanted to say that. I got more things up my sleeve, I'm fulfilling my anime bucket list here. Next to Kirito, I think I can make up a few titles for Sugou. The butterfly king with hair so silky and elegant that I wanted to chop off for the sake of charity tutted at Kirito and I while wagging a finger.

"I'd prefer if you didn't use that name here. You should address me as your highness, the Fairy King Oberon!" Sugou kicked Kirito and me, making us roll a little on the ground but we still had a firm grip on each other. We weren't going to lose to this guy, if we did, I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror losing to someone even lower than the typical mustache twirling villains. This guy wasn't worth the pain we went through like Kayaba. I could hear Asuna and Judai yelling for us and even under the gravity spell, Judai's cat ears and tail were puffed out to the extreme, his eyes now in cat slits were burning in hate as he glared at Sugou. "Wonder why you can't move?" Sugou asked, stomping on Kirito and my conjoined hands and digging his heel into it. "It's called gravity magic, coming out in the next upgrade. Think the players will go for it?"

"Oh yeah, sure. It's too fricking over powered and of course you'd use it to restrain us. Why don't you fight fair Mr 'I want to be Orlando Bloom' reject." I growled and Sugou knelt down to hold my chin in his hand.

"So you're the famous Isabelle Thorn, or do you prefer Belle. I personal prefer the latter. It makes you see more... Appealing." Sugou licked his lips and I so wish I has real saliva to spit into his eye.

"Leave Belle alone!" Asuna shouted, still struggling to get up and I could feel Kirito grip tightening in my hand.

"If you try to do anything to her, I swear I'll kill you." Kirito growled as my brother continued to glare at Sugou. I'm so proud of my little brother. Don't give him the satisfaction of your anger, Jason. Kick him in the ass later or at least shoot more insults.

"I wonder, if your so mouthy, why don't you tell me how you and your friends got in here? Kiriguya probably won't tell and the fur ball will bite off my hand. I believe there were two strange programs running about." Sugou asked and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Simple, we formed a fellowship. Had a cool journey and we're ready to throw you into the fires of Mount Doom... Or at least stab you in the back and let you fall and get impaled." Oh how I wish Lord of the Rings could be a part of ALO. Then I can actually do that and it wouldn't be a crime. Sugou, though, didn't seem at all disturbed by my comment, instead letting me go.

"No matter. I have means of finding out when I get into your..."

"We already know about your plan so shut the hell up." Judai growled though I can tell he was hiding a smirk. "Mind control? Really? How generic can you get?" Oh god, I really am proud of Jason. He saved us all from hearing Sugou's stupid monologue about his evil plans. Then again, Sugou is a third rate bad guy so I think monologuing was in his 'Evil Mastermind for Dummies' book.

"You won't get away with this. We'll see to that, you monster." Asuna snarled and all Sugou could do was laugh.

"And how do you plan to do that? You'd need a god to help you now. And the only God here is yours truly!" Sugou announced, spreading his arms out like he was ready to embrace the nothingness... Or just waiting for applause that will never come. I'm kind of surprised he's not curious on how we knew about his plans…. then again, I think at this point he's dived off the deep end in a glorious swan dive. "But before I start ticketing with your souls, how about we have a little fun!" Sugou snapped his fingers and instantly chains fell in front of Asuna and me with a shackles on them. Oh no, no! Do not get me involved! I swear to go I will murder the butterfly and go on a rampage if that man touches me in an inappropriate way! At least the guys were trying to protect us from the possible molestation. Judai actually bit Sugou's wrist as he tried to shackle Asuna, earning a kick in the face. Kirito kept his hand in mine for as long as he could even when Sugou was kicked and pounding our hands with his heel. We weren't going to let go. I told Kirito what Sugou was capable of and we weren't going to let it happen. Plus, knowing that, I think Kirito was also scared for my sake… if so, good job boyfriend, you care. In the end, Sugou just shackled me and when Asuna and I were hoisted up into the air, our toes just barely touching the ground was when Kirito was forced to let go. To my shock and horror, Sugou dragged Judai and Kirito by the hair and placed them in front of Asuna and me. What was he planning?

"Let them go, Sugou." Kirito growled and the butterfly King sighed as he took Kirito's sword from the sheath.

"Sorry, but I don't want you spoiling the fun. I've got big plans for you so be a good little dog and lay down!" Sugou stabbed Kirito in the back with the large sword, effectively pinning him down. "System command! Change the pain absorber! From level ten to level eight!" Heading Kirito give out muffled shouts of pain, I struggled against my chains. I want my sword in my hand right now so I can just end this! "Hurts, doesn't it. I'll lower the levels gradually to give you something to look forward to. By the way, once it reaches level three it will begin to affect your body in the real world."

"You sick bastard. Seriously, fight fair!" Judai shouted as Sugou glared at him.

"Be lucky I'm merciful. I have a special punishment to you and Kirigiya that I think we all will enjoy."

"What do you mean?" Asuna asked as Sugou went to smell Asuna's hair.

"You smell lovely. You don't know how hard it was replicating your scent from the real world. Not to mention bringing an analyzer into your hospital room."

"Just say it, you poor excuse for a villain! You're a sick pervert with twisted fantasies!" I growled and Sugou turned his attention on me.

"Sadly my dear, our part of the party will have to wait." Sugou said to Asuna as he advanced to me. "What to do with an undisciplined dog like you, Belle. That mouth of yours should be put to better use." He held my chin again as he examined my face. If he kisses me, I'm biting off that tongue! "Still, a beauty like you is a rare find. Such pretty green eyes. I image this is what you actually look like in real life."

"If you think you can touch me, your wrong. When I get out of this, I'll make sure to use your face as a rag for the street." I growled but Sugou just laughed.

"Oh but I have no intention of laying a hand on you. At least... Not yet." He said nuzzling into the side of my head and right into my hair. "I want to see those eyes broke like a doll's eyes Completely broken and I'd love to see those pretty green things hold that expression. So broke that you'd do what I command instead of firing insults at your God. And I know the perfect solution." My eyes widen in fear as I felt Sugou's hands run up my body and to my head. "Why don't we give everyone here a demonstration of the progress I've made in controlling the minds and emotions of people? That would be a wonderful show, wouldn't you agree, Kirigiya?"

"You bastard!" Kirito shouted but he wasn't the only one freaking out now.

"Leave her alone! Belle's done nothing wrong!"

"I swear I'm gonna stab you, you son of a..." Asuna and Judai were shouting anything they could to get Sugou's attention away from me but Sugou just ignore them.

"I've always wanted a puppet to spout my glory in the game, but I think I'll settle for something else." Sugou said, as I can feel his hands lower down to my hips but then I felt his hand hold my sword. "I'll make it so that you'll want to kill these Kirigiya and his friend here but I'll make sure to drop the pain absorber to level zero." Oh god, no. It might kill them or at least Kirito will die! Jason has his nurse and the others to force him to log out. Kirito doesn't have that or at least Suguha can get him out, still what if she gets hurt to!

"You Bastard!" Kirito shouted but I managed to give Kirito and the others a smile.

"Its okay, this guy can't change me. I'll fight him no matter what. I won't lose to this sorry excuse for a human being."

"Human, haven't I already told you I'm the god of this world?" Sugou said, wrapping an arm around me as he waved his finger to have a menu pop up. "No matter, we'll see how long you last before you start being more submissive…." Sugou started his program and a new sensation filled my mind. It was like my mind was being emptied, I couldn't blink, I couldn't move, I just had to take it. There's no real word to describe it but it felt like someone was scanning my mind and cutting out pieces that Sugou didn't seem to like. I could still think though, Sugou hadn't taken that part yet but worst of all I could hear and see. Judai looked terrified, screaming for his big sister, and Kirito was shouting at Sugou, trying to reach me. Worst of all, I can hear Sugou's laughter loud in my ear. 'Kayaba…. now would be a good idea to give the Gary Stu the plot device now, so I can beat the guy who mentally violating me.'

* * *

Merry Christmas to all! And today… we remember the Moonlit Black Cats.


	5. Author's Note and Thank you

Author's Note

Hey, guys. Sorry I didn't update in a long time. I just wanted to let you guys know why I haven't been posting any new info since Christmas. Thing is, I'm graduating with my Bachelors degree in History this May so I've been busy working on my research papers. I hope you guys understand and I will be continuing after school has ended.

Really, I want to thank everyone who's been patient and supported me while writing I'm in Hell and Fairy Fail. Truth be told, when I first started I'm in Hell, it was more of me trying to poke fun at SAO because of it's flaws but it turned into a way to see what was good about the show. If it weren't for you guys, I probably would have dropped the story and Belle would have been forgotten. So cheers to you all for helping me get as far as I have.

Also… to those who have been saying my work is subpar, I do not care. Why? It's a fanfiction and written for fun. If people are happy with what I write, it shouldn't matter it someone says my fanfiction is barely passible. It's enough to hear everyone support and what they do like and dislike about my work to show that at least people care. Also, I believe I said in the chapter that if you do not like it, there's always the back button. You don't need a tardis to go back in time. But one last 'thank you'.

Thank you guys for giving me reasons to look into SAO and find the good as well as the bad, I'm in Hell and Fairy Fail wouldn't have been the same without you.


	6. Author's Note: Important

Author's Note: Votes and Poll Deadline

I hate having to keep sending Author's Notes... Mainly because I hate leaving you guys hanging. But I got a confession to make.

The reason why I haven't been able to update as often as I liked is well... I'm trying to get back into writing fanfiction again. Not to say that I haven't stopped. It's just seriously been slow. Not only have I been looking for a job but I just recently went through a pretty bad break up with my ex in August. I won't get into details but I needed time to recover.

You guys have been so supportive, and I hate leaving you guys with an author's note but I come bearing good news. I am improving. I'm writing the chapter for Fairy Fails and have finished the outline for SAO2, yes, I have gotten that far. From the support of my friends as well as you patient readers, I can clearly say now that I'm back. Stronger than ever and with ideas fresh for Fairy Fail. As an added note: I took to what you guys said about the sneak peak last christmas... about Asuna being the one who gets her brain scrambled while Kirito, Belle, and Jason are watching?... Hehehehehehe Never give a mouse a cookie, because she will make evil things.

So to all of you who have been waiting patiently, don't worry. I hope to get things out as soon as possible. Also, looking forward to writing how Kirito and Belle reunite... and I know what's the first thing she'll say.

Belle: No offense Kirito... actually, never mind that. Your head kind of looks like a hedgehog.


	7. Letter to Readers (No I'm not dead)

Author's Note

Dear readers,

Seriously thank you for sticking around for so long. I'm sad to say this isn't a chapter but I am still working on the story. I just came today to explain why I've been gone for so long. For one thing I've been dealing with a few emotional issues that have started since September: my stress in school, a bad break up, and a stroke in the family. I thought that things would be a bit better in Spring and I finally found time to write again. But please know I will not be updating regularly. I am working to get my teaching credential and I need to get B's and above to get into the program. If anything, I should be free more in the summer when I'm not taking as many stressful classes as I am now but I'm trying to get the next chapter out soon.

Don't think I've forgotten this story. Believe me, I have not. I'm still active with it and it's outline, trying to figure out if I want to add bits from the light novel, which I bought a year ago and finished, or just keep to the anime. Not to mention the fact that the second SAO is something I've been itching to get to. Its just for me, the first part of SAO was good…. Trying to write through the part I dislike the most is a hard task and doing my own thing in the beginning really does take some time to think about. Still, now that I've found some time, I'm ready to dig my heels and face the fairy king and all his…. Perverted annoyances. Also, thank you guys for last year's input on the scene I posted. (insert evil laughter here). I would like to ask you guys something important though concerning GGO and Belle. What kind of weapons should she have in that world? Yes guns are needed but as someone who has been into more fantasy type games, GGO will be a whole new territory for Belle. Should she go with just the gun or should she go with the lightsaber like Kirito? Please leave a comment as well as a reason why. Please and thanks to everyone.

CrystalMaiden


	8. Chapter 4: Welcome to ALO

Dear readers,

Okay seriously here, I am not dead and nor is this story. I just had to pick school over writing for a bit. I haven't given up on finishing this really. For the record, I've been noted by many of the people who review this story that doing single author note chapters are against the rules of the site. However, really unless you guys want shorter chapters then I can do that, but I just wanted to say I'm not dead and neither is this story.

It pains me to see someone saying this story is dead and I am sorry I haven't told any of you this. You see, I've actually been busy with university for years now and I'm actually on my way to becoming a teaching. I'll be student teaching hopefully this fall and I've been working hard to better my grades. However, I'll post what I got for the next chapter up, even though I wish I could add more. Honestly this is the best I can do for now. I'm sorry everyone and I really hope you call can be patient with me.

Yours truly,

CrystalMaiden

PS: it is okay to PM me as well about my schedule.

* * *

Chapter 4: Welcome to ALO

Isabelle's POV

Finally the day has come! I'm finally going to log into ALfheim online for the first time ever! Not that I'm excited…. I'M ABSOLUTELY THRILLED! Why? I'm one step closer to beating that rapist butterfly to the ground, ripping off his wings and placing it on my FaceBook wall for the whole world to see. But first, I gotta get through orientation. It's the day of the new volunteers becoming a part of the F.R's ALO program and as I sat with the about twenty or so people I noticed two people in the front of the room.

"Hey! Lewis! Helen!" I ran to my friends, who greeted me with a smile.

"Hey ya, Belle. Long time no see. How are things?" Lewis grinned, looking the same as ever. "Not surprised you're here. We were kind of expecting you a bit sooner." I've gotten used to seeing them again as they were in the real world thankfully. I became kind of used to seeing their avatar forms but again, SAO kind of messes with your head after being stuck for two years.

"Good, but I couldn't come sooner because finally finished with all the hospital tests. Now I'm volunteering." I say, looking at my two friends. "I'm guessing you two already have avatars in ALO by now."

"Yep, had some for a while now actually but we spent most of our time in SAO. Still, we're pretty strong fairies." Helen said, grinning. "We go by our SAO names there since I doubt Butterfly is paying attention to names in the game. We're also leading this group's orientation today so we're not going to bore you with long talks about charts and what not."

"Come on, Travis's lecture wasn't that bad."

"Lewis, the guy was talking about stats and charts and other stuff. We have to talk about other things if we want the volunteers to stay awake and like the job they're getting. Some of them aren't getting paid you know." I chuckled seeing my friends like this. Its almost as if nothing happened and we were just talking at school, like the SAO incident never happened. Still, things have changed. They're getting ready for university and I'm basically in community college playing catch up… then again they two said before they were planning to attend the same college I'm in and transfer out so I guess that's good. We're still together in the end and growing up hasn't separated us yet.

"Wait, so if you guys are already in ALO, what fairy race are you?" I ask as the two smiled.

"I'm an Undine, head healer of my branch of the guild." Helen said, looking pretty proud of herself.

"And I'm a Salamander." Lewis said, looking a bit glum. "I wanted to be an Undine though."

"Why didn't you both become undines?" I asked as Helen chuckled.

"Well you see, we made a bet a while back about the fairy races. We both agreed not to be the same race as we hope to party up after this is all over and we wanted diversity in skills. The Undines managed to get another pirate ship but it was only for that particular race. Every fairy race has something special to it, like the Cait Sith having a giant dragon but all Lewis cared for was a pirate ship. And you know how he was with the last ship." I rolled my eyes, looking at Lewis.

"Is that the only reason why you wanted to be an undine? You wanted to go Jack Sparrow on us again?"

"Maybe."

"My god you're hopeless. Undines also have magic to help breath under water. Didn't you want that too?"

"I know that! I wanted a pretty mermaid NPC girlfriend!" Helen and I looked at each other before looking at our good friend.

"Lewis, you need a real date. NPCs are a bunch of zeros and ones. Plus you can't do real world stuff with them." I pointed out and poor Lewis looked like he was crushed.

"Let me dream, guys. I haven't found a girl yet in real life and you found Kirito in a game, Isabelle."

"But that was different. He's got a physical body…. Somewhere… point is, get a real girlfriend. Find someone." I point out but notice Lewis wasn't that sad any more. "So you lost a bet so that only Helen could be an undine… why did you choose the salamanders?"

"Oh well… I thought I'd go all _Hunger Games_." Lewis said, and grinned. "London, the boy who is on fire."

"You do realize that the title was also used against Katniss in the books, right? Making her a symbol and using fire based things to attack her." I point out, crossing my arms. "Not only that but if you're following the Katniss route, are you using a bow and arrow? Not a good move, since the Cait Sith have the better eye sight than most of the fairies."

"Again, I'm learning here. Plus I have been taking archery classes so that helps out a lot."

"Wait, you do?" I asked, kind of curiously.

"Yep, finally found a place that does it. Its actually kind of fun for me and with that under my belt, shooting in ALO is easy for me now."

"And since I haven't done much in the ways of combat, the Undine's magic and healing are perfect for me." Helen said and I realized they had a lot of planning into their races, they seemed perfectly fit for their style and I kind of felt unsure of myself about choosing a Sylph for my fairy race. Was that really the best for me?

"Anyway, we're about the start off the presentation. You'd better take a seat, Isabelle."

"Oh right, talk to you guys later."

Taking my seat, I finally noticed a few people around me. Some of them were like me but others were male adults who looked like they have been working out a lot at the gym. 'Then again, ALO is also based on physical skills IRL so it makes sense they'd get some tough people too.' I thought, as the lights dimmed and Helen and Lewis talked.

"As you are all aware, we're not all here just to play games." Helen said, looking at everyone. "We're here to save people who are still trapped in the virtual world thanks to Nobuyuki Sugou, or as Oberon as he prefers to be called in ALO. Our goal is to get the World Tree to get all the missing players logged off manually from the inside. This includes the minds of other players from the original world that's not ours. For this operation we'll need to have all fairy races work together and that is where you all come in."

"Each of you have been given a pamphlet describing each fairy race and their advantages when you signed of for this volunteer program days ago. If you have not decided which race you wish, you better choose now or you will not be logged in on time with the with the rest. Those who have an idea of which race you wish to use, please follow Helen and she will take you to your assigned room where you will meet your nurse and get prepped for the dive." Wow, Lewis seemed pretty serious and when some of us stood, I noticed the muscle men still sat and were busy reading their pamphlets. 'Guess those guys didn't bother to read the stuff. Or maybe the didn't give it much thought.' I sighed and followed Helen, who began giving out rooms to people.

"Isabelle, this is your room." She said, handing me a key and pointing to room 309. Going inside, it seemed like a regular hospital room except with more machines and what looked to be a NeverGear on the pillow. But instead of one person, there was two. A female nurse and… my dad?

"Hey, Isabelle." My dad greeted, sitting on the armchair by the bed.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to check on you before you went in for your first dive." He said, pulling me into a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly, I'm pretty okay." I admitted. "I'm excited to do this and to help out. Is this normal for anyone doing the ALO group?"

"Pretty much, though I won't be joining for a while. I got some real life stuff to deal with but if you need anything, just log off and call me. I'll come and help you." I smiled and hugged my dad back. It feels so great to hug my dad for real again. It's not a virtual body but the real one.

"Thanks, Dad. I'll be okay. Is Jason already logged in?"

"I don't think so. He texted me saying he's going to be a bit late. Said he was doing something else for the F.R. But he'll come by in an hour."

"Oh…" I said but I wasn't that disappointed. There were a few things I needed to clear up for myself once I arrived in ALO and I needed to be alone for that but… I didn't want to be alone. I wanted Jason to be there to meet _them_.

"Anyway, tonight we're having dinner at home. Like a family, okay? Not letting the two of you going out to sushi without me." Dad teased, ruffling my hair.

"Okay, Dad. We'll see you later then." I gave him one last hug before he left the room.

"Ms. Thorn, I'll need you to put this on." I turned to the nurse who held out what seemed to be a hospital gown but it wasn't made of paper. Instead this one was made of cloth, and a comfy one. Still, it was easy to open up and when I was dressed, the nurse opened the front a little to place a few wires and pads on me. "I'll be here monitoring your heart rate, okay? This is going to feel different so try not to be scared."

"I won't." I said, putting on the headgear and laying down on the bed and closed my eyes.

"Good, now to activate your gear, just say 'link start' and that should turn on the gear audibly. 'Link start? How fitting. Guess the F.R is following Akihiko's model.' I think before smiling and closing my eyes.

"Okay, see you later. Link start."

The feeling of diving for the first time is rather strange. You don't feel like you're mind is leaving your body or that you've lost all sensation. It's more like you're in a dream and slowly becoming more aware of the dream's reality and images. Like you're moving in the dream and you have control but your actual body feels nothing. I can see now why people would get used to this feeling when they were trapped in SAO. It's like being in the Matrix or something, you can't tell after a while what's real and what's not. Plus, already I feel a lot lighter. Like my body isn't as weighted down by gravity. Kind of amazing even though I haven't fully logged into the game yet.

"Welcome to ALfheim Online." A pleasant female voice announced as I saw the welcome screen and a keyboard appeared in front of me. "Please select a name and gender you wish to play as." I thought about Sugou, the man running this game and the one we're fighting against. I wonder if Kazuto told anyone about me. He probably did in hopes of finding me even if I had told him I wasn't in his world, which means Sugou might already know about me. But that's also a bonus because then he would know I don't exist in that world. He'll only know me by name and I don't think pictures from SAO made it out of the game. I'll be able to keep myself a secret from him as long as I never make contact with him, which is very unlikely if I actually meet him face to face some how. Without hesitation, I place my old SAO user name, Belle, into the name slot as well as my gender, female. At once, holograms of different fairy mods appeared in front of me, each representing a different fairy race.

"There are nine races in which to choose from. Please select the race you wish to play as." I thought about what I had decided previously about being a Sylph… no turning back now, plus I don't think any other fairy race would work for me. "You have selected Sylph. Your character's appearance will be decided at random. Do you wish to continue?" I pressed the yes button. "You will now be teleported to your home town in Sylph territory. Good luck, player." I closed my eyes as a familiar light engulfed me. The same light from my computer two years ago… only this time, just my mind entered the game. A sense of weightlessness filled my sensed for a moment before I regained myself and I felt myself falling. Opening my eyes, I could see it was sunset and the clouds were turning orange against the setting sun. If it weren't for the fact I could see the trees and the capitol of Sylph territory, I would've guessed this was the opening for _Kingdom Hearts_ and I would land in the ocean and onto a platform of a Disney Princess _._ And that's when it hit me.

"I'm gonna crash!" I shouted, feeling really panicked. How do they expect me to land! I don't know how to fly yet!

 _You won't crash._

My eyes widened. That voice! I know it! Suddenly, it felt as if time had stopped I was suspended in the air as a chill went down my spine. I managed to look down at my body and saw it too was being distorted! Everything was being distorted! But why?! What's going on! I felt myself panicking inside, was I going to be deleted or something? Instead, the distortion stopped and a strong gust of wind seemed to carry me away into the forest a little ways away from the capitol of sylph territory.

I'm grateful now for not being fully in the game now. I landed in a tree and fell down, spread eagled onto the forest floor. It should've killed me if I was a special beta again but I'm not. Still, I just lay there, breathing and getting use to the feeling around me. It almost felt real except the pain wasn't as bad if anything nonexistent. 'So this is what it's like being in a virtual MMO…' I think, finally sitting up. I had landed by a slow moving stream and I got a chance to look at myself and for another moment, I panicked. I looked exactly like myself except with elf like ears. Same blonde hair and green eyes… no… my eyes seem a little different. But how?

'This isn't right. The reason why Kirito looked the way he did was because of his data. But I'm sure I didn't save anything when I was in SAO. It was kind of impossible for me.' I thought, as I finally looked at the clothes I was wearing. A simple green outfit that seemed to be for beginners with knee high boots but worse of all… I was wearing a skirt. "Great, another thing to worry about. Perverted gamers looking up there while I'm in battle." I groaned. But more important things were on my mind besides my wardrobe. Now that I'm in the game, even more questions came to me now that I saw what my avatar looked like. Remembering from the anime, I used my left hand to open the menu and saw the log out button: thank god. I also noticed my stats were still there from SAO, which raise another question like my appearance. But unlike Kirito, I didn't have a special skill except evasion and defense, but whatever I did have followed me into the game. How I got my data back I won't know yet but I got a pretty good guess how. 'I'll worry about that bit later.' I thought, as I opened my items storage. Everything was 'errors' except for two items, which I quickly summoned. A single teardrop and a red star appeared in my hand and I couldn't help but smile. I wonder if they'll remember me…

I closed my eyes, as I pressed both items, ready for the blinding light to come. I had to wait for a solid minute to open my eyes and in front of me in mid air from the light were two people. A young man who looked exactly like my brother and a little girl with long black hair and a white dress who looked a lot like a very feminine Kirito... wait a minute, Kirito already kind of looks like a girl a tiny bit. Okay a more feminine version of Kirito. They looked at me and I couldn't help but smile at seeing them again.

"Yui, Adam. It's been a while. Do you guys remember me?" I ask, feeling a little nervous. I was kind of worried Yui wouldn't remember me since her data was with Kirito. But my worries faded as I saw them smiling at me.

"Of course, we remember you."

"I wouldn't forget you, Mommy." The two jumped into my arms, knocking me down with a large hug as I laughed. That was the first time Yui ever called me 'mommy' and maybe it's because of the month of being away, I kind of missed her and Adam. Yui snuggled against me, repeating the word 'mommy' as I saw small tears running down her smiling face. Adam was the first to let go and his smiling face turned into one of confusion.

"Hey, what happened to your ears? You look different." Yui pulled away and looked at me too and I gave them a pained smile.

"Guys, a lots changed since you guys left. But I'll give you both the short version." I say as we all sat down on the grass together. "A month ago, we cleared SAO but there's a problem. A friend of mine who's very important to me is still trapped in the game with a bunch of other players, including some of the special betas. I'm not a special beta anymore but I came back to help a group of people save the trapped players. Thankfully without the threat of blood loss and injury this time."

"Mommy…" Yui held my hand as I hugged her. "Is Daddy here too?"

"No, not yet. But he'll be here in another month I think. I just came early to see if I can do anything though… Daddy doesn't know I'm here." I admitted as Yui and Adam looked at me. "Anyway, more over, how did my stats and appearance from SAO carry over to this game? As far as I can tell, I don't have any data on the game saved in the program I'm using."

"Let me see." Adam said, touching my hand and closing his eyes. "Strange, your data is all there for some reason. As far as I know, there was no way for you or any special beta to have any saved data from SAO. My guess is some how your info must have been added after you logged into the game. I'm not sure how though but everything from when it comes to your data seems to have ported over. At least the ones that could carry over into this game."

"Then I guess only one person must've done that." I think remembering Kayaba. He's probably dead now and his mind is wandering the internet… hope he doesn't dive too deep or he'll find the seriously weird stuff. My guess is he knows about the captive players and when he saw me log in, he managed to give me back my old data. He probably had the special betas data saved somewhere for him to access at any time. Figures, he's always getting me to do his work for him, only this time I'm willing. That and having no body to speak of in the game, I think he'd have no choice but to ask for help at this point. Unless he wanted to make his own account in the game and I think even Sugou, not really noticing changes in the game he's making, would notice if a program made an avatar by itself.

"I noticed your data is virtually the same as in SAO. Barely anything has changed." Yui pointed out, looking up at me. "I think this is because this game is using the same Cardinal System as SAO did."

"Make sense, since ALfheim is run by the people who took over SAO after all the law suits. Looks like the fairy king was too lazy to make his own programs and just stole someone else work… actually he's still doing that." I say, before looking back at Adam. "Say Adam, do you think you can check through the firewalls and see if you can find anything interesting?"

"Not from this location." Adam admitted, looking a bit annoyed at the idea he couldn't do anything. "With this system, I think I'll only be able to access further data by going to the source or have an open window of an admin."

"Damn, guess Sugou and his guys did a pretty good job in keeping their secrets."

"Mommy, are you okay? Your emotional levels are indicating you're angry."

"I am angry, Yui… but not at you guys." I admit, sighing. "I'm angry at the man who is running this game and who is holding my friend hostage. I guess you can call her Aunty Asuna. You never got a chance to meet her though."

"Aunty Asuna?" Yui asked, as I nodded.

"Yeah, she's one of the people still trapped in this game and the guy running it is just keeping her there, as a prize and harassing her." I say but I give Yui another hug. "But for now… I just wanted to say I'm sorry for how I acted back in SAO. I stayed away from you knowing what you were and… well… I should've been nicer…"

"It's okay, Mommy. I know you cared. After all, you woke me up."

"Woke _us_ up, Yui." Adam corrected, arms crossed. "More over, what can we do now? You're going to have to delete your items so the system doesn't track you."

"I know but…" I wasn't sure what to do with Yui then. She's supposed to help Kazuto when he enters the game and I think people would notice me having two people or rather pixies following me around. "I'm going to delete the items but Yui, do you have Kirito's data? Like email and stuff?"

"Let me see…" Yui closed her eyes, concentrating before nodded. "Yes, it's right here. But why do you ask, Mommy?"

"Well, I may need to turn you back into that jewel and send you to him." I say, patting her head. "I know we just reunited again but I need to get Kirito's attention to get back into the game some how and you're the best person to do that. Is there any way for you to keep in contact with Adam?"

"Well no, not unless you want us to by using your email and Kirito's." Adam said, looking confused. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, as much as I know Kirito is going through a rough time with physical therapy, I still want to keep him up to date with the goings on here. Or at least make sure he's doing okay." I admit, though really it may be the only way for me to keep track of him. That and when he gets into the game, Yui can just port herself back into Kirito's NerveGear, at least I think she can. Yui thought for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, I'll go get Daddy." Yui said, standing up and giving me one last hug before glowing again. "Good bye, Mommy. I'll see you soon."

"We'll be waiting." I say, giving her a warm smile. "Also, when you see Kirito. Tell him to not nap and say it's a nice day. That excuse can only work for so long." Yui laughed and nodded.

"Okay, Mommy. I will! Bye Mommy! Bye Big Brother!" She waved and in a poof of light vanished, leaving only Adam and me in the forest.

"Hard to believe she's gone again, huh." Adam said, looking at me but I just stared at the stop Yui vanished from.

"I just realized something."

"Hm?"

"Kirito is going to send me a fricking long email if Yui tells him about my email address." I groaned, rubbing my temples slightly. Even in a VRMMO I can already sense a headache coming from the very thought of the giant email that Kazuto may send me, asking me about my life. I just hope Kazuto doesn't come into the game recklessly after getting Yui. It'll be a while before be can even buy the name since in the anime it was leant to him by Agil… I gotta figure out what his real name is.

"Um… Belle, you okay?"

"Yeah, anyway what are you going to do? You got a form you can slip into?"

"Yeah, but you better not laugh."

"Huh?" Looking at Adam, I nearly blinded myself when he began to glow like a computer screen when you just turned off all the lights in the room: very bright to the point it hurts. When the light finally vanished and I was getting the spots out of my vision, who knew that also happened in VRMMOs, but in front of me was Adam, now a pixie and even kind of dressed like Peter Pan. He even had a little hat too.

"I'm a pixie here…. And I'm not sure if there are male navigation pixies since…" He groaned, looking away from me, and if I wasn't seeing things, he was blushing slightly and pouting.

"Come on, I'm sure there are male fairies… I mean pixies." I point out but then smiled. "But hey, at least you're not dressed like Tinker Bell."

"Whose Tinker Bell?" Adam asked but before I could tell him, he closed his eyes as if scanning something before his eyes snapped open and his face turned a bright red. "NO WAY WOULD I BE WEARING THAT!"

"I was just saying!" I pointed out, looking around and trying not to laugh. "Anyway, how far are we from the nearest town?"

"We're about a mile away from the capital city in Sylph territory." Adam pointed out without even having to scan. "We can work on your flying now if you want."

"No. Learning from watching Kirito in the anime, I'd rather have someone teach me so that I don't land on my face like he did." I say, pulling out my sword. "I want to see how fighting in this world is different than fighting in SAO. Especially with this new body of mine."

"Okay, fine. Just go in this direction and you'll make it to the capital. You should be able to take on any monster you face along the way with your skills." Adam answered back as I nodded. He was right, only a few yards in, I came across my first monster and really began to understand why Kirito loved the online world. My body was lighter, I could fight easily, and pain wasn't that big of a deal: it was more like a reaction than anything else. 'I can't wait to tell the others about this. This is way better than SAO for me!' I thought, trying my best not to cheer out loud as I fought my way through the woods and towards my destination where, I'm hoping, Jason would be and he'd be teaching me how to fly.

* * *

Crystal: So yeah people, I'm not dead.

Belle: Good, because I'm tired of waiting on the back burner. By the way have you watched Ordinal Scale yet?

Crystal: I have actually... well parts of it anyway. A favor to all my readers, if you guys can find me a link to the Ordinal Scale movie, I will write about that. It'll be easier for me since it's a movie and it'll be a bit easier for me. Anyway, I had to cut this chapter short but... I actually think now it may be for the better. Because the next chapter I think will be funnier in Jason's point of view. Look forward to Belle meeting Leafa, and the tons of emails that'll be awaiting our heroine from her king of anime husband in the next chapter. If you guys want me to do smaller chapters like this, it'll be easier for me to get them out faster.


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